Lopez, Julian (Week 6, Xandra Ibarra)

 From what I can see throughout her works, she's involved with the representation of the queer aesthetic; they revolve their art around the idea of showing/ proving/ demonstrating the world the interests and beauty of it all. One of her art works that gave me this impression would be her series, Free To Those Who Deserve It, because the sexual pleasure from torture is something prominent in the community. The subject to me is representing a person, the base is whatever the person is being held up by, and the restraints/ ropes for binding in this case would be the pressure from both ends of the contraption that is squeezing the subject into place. The piercings as well, all over the subject, gives a sense of pain. As a viewer, we use our senses when analyzing art, and in this series, the pain is visible through the metal rods piercing through the subject. Furthermore, the placement of the subject itself depicts a form of fragility, the subject is just carelessly flopped to the side, as if a human body where to fully relax on a chair, just flopped to the side - as if allowing/ offering itself to whatever/ whomever. 

Another work of art that I thought brought forward the queer aesthetic would be, The Hook Up/ Displacement/ Barhopping/ Drama Tour, not only from the art pieces, but from the title itself. I immediately thought of how hyper sexual the queer community can be overall and she captures that with the environment and setting of her images and subjects, but also through the title and the other other piece which was a flyer. In the flyer, it basically is an invitation for an event that basically just involves sex. The flyer is subtle but doable sentitdo; for example, "Transfer to new owner [la pure cream y neta]" which is referencing ones sperm. Along with the inclusion of bottoms and tops while including some subtlety like, "...(blouse) tops" being discreet yet clear for those who can understand. Which is also funny since in the queer world, a lot of people tend to claim being discreet or down low, yet it's so obvious to the people in the same community. It's as if Ibarra is mocking the people who claim to be discreet/ down low but don't realize how obvious it is to others. 

Lopez, Julian (Week 5)

Tamalada y Quinceañera by Carmen Lomas Garza is one of my favorite pieces. It reminds me of the time my family in Tijuana were booked and busy with my cousins' quince. Instead of tamales, mis tias made Birria, and the artwork, Tamalada, portrays a kitchen full of energy and liveness, just like my experience. It shows how efficient and effective it is to be working as a unit, as a family. It shows the beauty of the culture, the family, the color, etc. She is able to provide the viewer with that sense of identity, even familiarity with the small details - el molcajete along with the blue pot with white poke dots, the last supper painting, and even just the placement of the subjects serve as an example. Having this shared experience allows me to get a feel of the environment, a kitchen full of energy and liveliness. Everyone is engaging, everyone is doing something, everyone is active, even the stove, the cooking of these foods are ongoing. The subjects are in middle of these actions - wrapping tamales con carne y masa. 

Quinceañera also has this similar energy, todos se estan gozando, everyone is also doing something. I think they're all arriving, since the quinceañera isn't there herself. La dama en el medio esta corriendo sin zapatos, providing me with a sense of location. I feel like it takes place somewhere in Latin America, it shows how natural and common it is to do such thing. It makes me feel this way because of the placement of her, she's singled out and in the center - the only one with the most action, running while the others are walking or talking. She is able to provide such feelings, tones, energy simply by the color, the placement, and the environments she places these subjects in. 

Lopez, Julian (Carlee Fernandez Abstract)

Abstract 

Artist Carlee Fernandez in "Staging the Self" - National Portrait Gallery

The artist, Carlee Fernandez, breaks down the thought process/ reasoning behind her series, Staging the Self.  She describes her art as a bear, both “raw and in your face” as Fernandez stated; she wanted to represent herself as one, wearing a costume to portray that. She explains how “simple gestures” such as facial hair can be identifiers for people and themselves. Seems to tie body hair as masculine though, describing that facial hair is a depiction of machismo/ masculinity; which she further elaborated with the mimicry of her dad's portrait. 

Abstract

https://sjmusart.org/embark/artist-maker/info/866

The San Jose Museum of Art reports on the exhibitions and places Fernandez’s art traveled to. The blog references a writer from the Los Angeles Times which comments on her art as a whole. This blog also includes the style the artist partakes in, along with an analysis of it all; comments on the merging of animals and humans - the relationship between the two. Also references another person, Marlena Doktorczyk-Donohue, who also comments on her art. 

Abstract

https://www.carleefernandez.com

This is Carlee Fernandez’s portfolio, her website. We can find her art series and breadth pieces under certain styles. In her website, she provides with all the exhibitions she’s partook in, solo work, and other forms of art she partook in. Also provides the places her art has traveled and showcased. 

Lopez, Julian (Week 3)

I grew up in San Diego - a city very close to the border, like a 15 minute drive to the border close. The demographic in San Diego, well, in the places my family would stay, majority would be latinx/ chicanx people. My dad is christian, mom is catholic, so religion was a weird topic in my household until it wasn't. My mother believed and praised/ worshipped la virgen Maria, while my dad despised the idea of worshipping her, he didn't think of her as a saint or held her on any pedestal. He told me christians didn't praise nor put her on a pedestal as my mother did within the catholic religion. My step-mom is also catholic and she also worships la virgen Maria, mentioned to me that my dad thinks of her otherwise. Currently, my mother lives 5 minutes from a park known as Chicano Park in San Diego and it consists of a lot of murals regarding chicanx culture. Of course, some of these murals consist of la virgen Maria. From my knowledge, all I know is the she is the mother of Jesus Christ. She became pregnant miraculously without losing her virginity, without the help of a man. She was praised as holy for being 'pure' and not committing sin and delivering a baby without sin, Jesus Christ. growing up, my mother would always have a shrine somewhere around the house of her. This one time, we were moving out from our old apartment and she had this medium sized shrine of her. I had kind placed her rough on the trunk of the car and she saw how I handled it with not so much care and she raised her voice at me; she doesn't take any disrespect towards la virgen. Other than that, I wasn't really taught nor did I go out of my way to learn more about the importance/ role she played in the community/ culture, even in religion. 

Lopez, Julian

 Fernandez, Carlee

Star, Montana

Montoya, Delilah

Lopez, Julian

 Hi everyone! My name is Julian (he/they) and I'm a third year here at UCLA. I study Art at the School of Arts and Architecture, aiming to minor in Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE). Though I'm an artist here, my main/only medium is photography, reason you may ask? I'm simply just not as skillful in other forms of mediums, but I did begin sketching/drawing a lot more than I did ever in my life. Painting is another medium I'm slowly assimilating into since I want to do more hands-on art that can potentially invigorate my photography. 

I'm from one of the prettiest cities, my city being San Diego! I impulsively transferred from my previous school to a performing arts school my junior year. I began getting into art my freshman year of high school and decided that's what I want to pursue. Which, of course, played a major role in me transferring schools. There I began to improve and gain skills that I did not receive from the former due to the underfunded art department. Attending a well funded, magnet school, I became more aware of the adversities students faced due to low funding; for example, the previous school repeated the exact same course material every year in the art department; not allowing room for growth.

As I became more aware of the disadvantages and implications targeted/placed on certain groups of people, I wanted to educate myself and stay informed. Though it's a lot more complicated since there are a lot of intersectionalities. 

Though I'm Latinx, I'm not as well versed/informed of such art, artists, activists, etc. in the Chicanx/Latinx culture. This year, I want to change that. I desire to learn more about the culture I share amongst others and become a well rounded artist and being. This course caught my attention for that particular reason, I want to learn and navigate what interests me. I'm looking forward to this course!