One of the artistic concepts this class opened my eyes to was art as a way to build a community which is intent on fighting its oppressors. Many of the artists we learned about went further than creating art to unify-- their art rallied a group of people to feel inspired to fight back and make their voices heard.
Types of Western art reflecting community building that comes to mind includes The Ballet Class by Edgar Degas, or The Card Players series by Paul Cezanne. Unfortunately, great as these may be, they do not go past the idea of community in the same way a great majority of the art by the Chicana artists we studied in class do. Sure, they speak to comraderie, a shared interest, competition, and leisure time that are all essential components to depicting a community, but they are incapable of moving the viewers to take action. As a child who danced, I always loved Degas's dancers, but they did not encourage me to continue dancing. It wasn't until years later when I learned what they were actually representing that I felt more for the girls depicted in his paintings. In comparison, many of the artworks produces by the Chicana artists we discussed are catalyzing pieces, which encourage the audience to start or continue fighting for change.
But, paintings like Unite, by Barbara Jones-Hogu, are directly in conversation with the type of art we studied in this course. Bringing attention to a group of historically marginalized people and celebrating their art as well as their strides in equity and equality is a great advancement to viewing Chicanas as more than perseveres. First, we see them as fighters because the title Chicana is reminiscent of woman, immigrant, a part of a whole. But, by focusing on their art, we add back the base human drive to be creative and expressive. For Chicanas, one of the best ways to be artistic and political, is to do it at the same time, taking up space in both spheres of conversation.
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