Extra Credit Blog Post: Seen and Unseen

In the video, Barbara Carrasco describes the story and meaning behind her lithograph "Pregnant Woman in a Ball of Yarn." She explains that the woman portrayed as being trapped by the yarn, is her sister-in-law. Carrasco's brother was very unsupportive of her sister-in-law's desire to pursue higher education while pregnant. This stemmed from his own misogyny that led him to believe that his wife should adhere to the gendered expectations of womanhood and motherhood. Carrasco shared that her brother was ashamed that this lithograph was about that experience. 

Carrasco also shared that the lithograph has taken on different meanings due to different political issues. Many interpreted this piece as one that took a stand against sterilizations which infringed upon reproductive rights of many people. However, Carrasco shared that at the time she was unaware of the sterilizations happening at USC. Despite this, she understands this piece has significance for many people for a variety of reasons. 

She also worked closely with the UFW to create works, such as banners, that would share information with the viewer. Her banners worked to inform people about the use of pesticides in farmwork and the dangerous impact that they have. She also addressed consumerism in her work especially as her pieces were targeted towards consumers in order to show them the conditions of farmwork that they are not privy to. 

Week 10 Blog Post

As a person who is not an artist or does not participate in creative forms of expression, this class was a new experience for me. From the beginning, I was interested in taking this course because of the new experience and the art of the course being tied to my culture as well as focusing on women artists who are more often overlooked. Despite the fact that I have been in Chicanx courses before and that I am Chicanx, I was surprised to have been so unaware of the artists and their works that were discussed in this course. 

Throughout the class, I appreciated being exposed to more Chicana artists as I had not realized how few Chicana artists I actually knew. It was not until we did the exercise towards the beginning of the class that I realized how few Chicana artists we collectively knew. This is why I thought it was really interesting to partake in the Wikipedia project. I learned a lot while researching the artist I chose, Anita Valencia, and in hearing about the artists my classmates chose. There was a lot of insight into how different artists connect to their own culture through the message of their works, materials used, etc. Given all of these different perspectives and unique relationships to their cultures, especially from more marginalized groups, the artists we learned about his quarter are able to offer a view of Chicanxs that is not hegemonic in nature. In fact, we learned how artists have historically used their art as a form to convey important messages and work with their communities to work towards material changes depending on the political issues of the time. 

Week 9 Post

In Deux ex Machina, Catherine S. Ramirez discusses how technology, culture, and art come together through the work of Marion C. Martinez. Martinez is a Chicana artist from New Mexico who uses discarded electronic materials as well as items such as computers and other machines within her art. It is her particular intersections of identity and technology that inform how Martinez creates her pieces. For example, she created a reconfiguration of La Virgen de Guadalupe in order to connect futuristic elements with traditional cultural images. Given that Martinez’s work has ties into science and technology, it can be said that Martinez’s image of La Virgen de Guadalupe can be seen as a desire to create a new image for Chicana women and girls. The traditional cultural attitude towards La Virgen positions her as a model against which Chicana women are often compared, this is evidenced by La Virgen de Guadalupe also being considered a well-known archetype for Chicanas. Therefore, by incorporating technology, Martinez depicts the different futures, opportunities, and expectations possible for women.

It was also interesting to see Ramirez discuss “techno-rascuachi” because it can also be said that Martinez follows in the Chicano art tradition of rasquachismo. Rasquachismo describes the repurposing of old materials or materials that are already on hand in order to create new items. This can be done unconsciously at times in order to serve utilitarian purposes, however, it is also a purposeful and intentional creative use of resources that results in new ideas. Martinez’s implementation of technology can be interpreted to mean that she is looking towards the future. With the materials she uses are items previously considered trash which she repurposes for her art. In this way, she is also looking at the past and present. She is looking to the past through her images that have longstanding tradition in her culture, however, she also looks into the past because discarded materials are often forgotten and left behind.

Week 7: Graffiti is Art

Graffiti is Art by Charles "Chaz" Bójorquez describes some of the history behind graffiti's ties to Latinx people and to Los Angeles. Further, he describes how graffiti has been demonized due to the public perception that it is tied to gangs which he describes is not always the case. Bójorquez shares that what makes something graffiti goes beyond tagging as he states: "I believe that any drawn line that speaks about identity, dignity, and unity . . . that line is talking about graffiti and art" (121). With this, he shows that graffiti is not what people stereotypically think it is, such as tagging, but it encompasses more and means more to the artists who create it. He shares with the reader that graffiti is misunderstood and what lies at the root of graffiti is identity and community.

Additionally, it was interesting to read his analysis of advertisements as being disruptive in the ways that people often perceive graffiti to be disruptive. While graffiti and advertisements take up space in similar ways, advertisements are deemed as more official and acceptable despite them being forced into the faces of unsuspecting consumers. This discussion speaks to the legitimacy that is granted to corporations to impose their own ideas while the ideas of artists such as those who do graffiti art is stifled. On a similar note, regarding commercialization of images and of art, Bójorquez shares some of his thoughts on graffiti becoming recognized as art by official entities such as art galleries. Bójorquez believes that as graffiti does become recognized as art and moves into galleries, some of the qualities intrinsic to graffiti, such as the "raw integrity" that comes with graffiti being in the streets, becomes lost in a different setting which is not as natural given the type of art it is. 

Week 6 Post: Rasquachismo

In the reading, rasquachismo is described as an "attitude or taste" (85) because rasquachismo cannot be forced into the confines of a strict system. Rasquachismo encompasses the "underdog perspective" (85) which is often that of the resourceful every day person. The reading describes that for these reasons, rasquachismo is deeply rooted in the working-class perspective and experiences of working-class people. An example of this in art is seen with Yolanda Lopez's work. In a drawing Lopez did of her grandmother, she drew her grandmother on butcher paper which reflects her working-class upbringing as she utilizes the resources that she has available and has a "make do" attitude tied to her art. In this way, rasquachismo offers a seemingly endless amount of possibilities as people "make do" with what they have on hand in their every day lives. This translates into art as people create and reuse things in resourceful ways making it so that rasquachismo also represents freedom within art. When Tomás Ybarra-Frausto described reusing items as something that can be considered a form of rasquachismo it resonated with me. Reusing items and making items last has always been something that my family has practiced growing up and I continue to repurpose items such as aluminum cans by turning them into pencilholders. Ultimately, Ybarra-Frausto describes that given the nature of rasquachismo there is no singular way for art to be rasquache given its inherent complexities (89). Therefore, rasquchismo allows for honesty and a spirit of not being taken too seriously. 

photo shows an aluminum can decorated with a page from a magazine and nail polish. the aluminum can is now used to store knitting supplies

Week 4 - ¡Printing the Revolution! Exhibition Preview

 On January 21st, the Smithsonian Institute held a preview of ¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics: 1965. The exhibition is co-curated by Carmen Ramos, who also wrote ¡Printing the Revolution!. She has been with the Smithsonian for ten years and in this time, its collection of art from Latinx artists has greatly increased. It is important to see that institutions like the Smithsonian are highlighting the art of Latinxs.

This exhibitionis important for the same reasons. This exhibit is a way to highlight the work of Chicanx and Latinx artists who are left out of the history of printmaking within the United States, despite their impact on printmaking and on society or their communities in general being significant.

In this preview, Ramos delved into the ties that Chicanx art has had to social movements. The impact of Chicanx graphic art continues to be seen in much of today’s Chicanx art which has often been used to convey social and political messages relevant to Chicanx and Latinx communities. As discussed by some of the featured speakers, Chicanx graphic art practices are rooted in community as Chicanx artists are speaking out about issues that are important to their communities through their art in order to help create positive change for their communities. Some of the main shifts in Chicanx art have been changes in technology which has led to expansion in the way artists can create as well as spread their work and messages.

Week 3 Post - Artist Anita Valencia

Anita Valencia is an 88 year old artist who was born and raised in San Antonio. In her work, she has been inspired by the harm done to the environment as a result of consumerism creating massive amounts of waste. As a result, she has chosen to incorporate trash in her work as she has collected discarded wrappers, CDs in order to use them as her materials. This use of trash is seen with her origami pieces made out out of trash bags (Picture 1) and the "Lone Star CANdelier" made out of aluminum cans (Picture 2). In addition to this, she also designed a butterfly bench, which was also made out of recycled materials and the bench was placed along River Walk in San Antonio, which she has shared has been significant to her as part of her community for her whole life. According to a My San Antonio article about her, she has long been a part of the San Antonio art world, making art for over 40 years. All the while, she has continuously chosen to make art with a message as she finds another use for waste.

Sources:

https://www.mysanantonio.com/lifestyle/home-garden/article/Valencia-makes-art-out-of-other-people-s-trash-10963328.php#photo-12457626

https://www.getcreativesanantonio.com/Public-Art/Public-Artworks-Map/Public-Artworks-List/Public-Artwork/Article/139/Lone-Star-CANdelier

https://sariverfound.org/portfolio/butterflies-anita-valencia/

Week Two Claudia Zapata Post

How has technology affected how Chicanx/Latinx art is created, spread and consumed?

Technology has allowed artists to explore their creativity as they have constructed new ways to share their art through mediums such as interactive websites while also shifting how information spreads via art with the use of technological tools such as social media. This has been seen with artists such as Jacalyn Lopez Garcia, who created Glass Houses, a website containing art and elements of her life that gives the person navigating it some insight into her life and her relationship to her culture.

Art has long been used to spread information and take a political stance, which has only been facilitated by technology. Artist Favianna Rodriguez contributes to sharing knowledge of tools that can be used to further disseminate messages. Her website offers free information regarding how to stencil banners for protests. Artivists such as Rodriguez have been able to garner attention to the important issues, such as those that undocumented immigrants face. Another artivist who has done similar work is Julio Salgado, who was able to use Tumblr to connect with undocumented queer people. They shared their experiences and he was able to create digital portraits to reflect the things that undocumented queer people face. In this way, technology has also made it easier for Chicanx artists to connect with their community and create art that reflects the issues specific to their community.

Politics and art is not new, however, technology has made it easier to share political art with multitudes of people. Claudia Zapata describes that these shifts towards increased sharing and participation are in large part due to the creation and widespread use of social media, which is a part of the Web 2.0. Therefore, technology has been an important tool that artists have taken advantage of in order to create innovative works and share often suppressed narratives.

Cantu, Maribella

Hello! My name is Maribella and my pronouns are they/them. I am a fourth year Sociology major and Chicanx and Central American Studies minor. I am interested in taking this class because I hope to learn more about how gender relates to Chicanx identity especially in creative spheres. I recently took a course that centered written works, including fiction, by women of color and especially Latinas. It was an interesting class because it highlighted the influential written work that women have produced and how the works were vehicles for important dialogues to occur. The authors incorporated necessary discussions of the experiences of women with different marginalized identities, such as women of color, immigrant women, and queer women and how their marginalization occurs due to misogyny, capitalism, racism, etc. I am interested in continuing to discuss and learn about Latinas in creative fields and their work as well as reflecting on their work through a feminist framework.

In this week's reading "Printing and Collecting the Revolution" by E. Carmen Ramos, they discuss the history of Chicanx and Latinx art, such as Chicanx printmaking or graphic arts, playing a role in activism. Ramos emphasizes the important role of these artists as they made a conscious effort to work with marginalized groups, such as people of color (26). Printmaking and graphic arts as a medium play a key role in furthering dialogue and reflecting changes that occur in social and political conditions. Additionally, given the racism in the art world that favors white artists, Chicanx art has also played an important part in shaping identity away from these norms and in creating and sustaining community support as evidenced with the importance of art in resistance. Further, the work of Latina artists also contributes to creating a space and dialogue that aims to uplift marginalized identities.