Torres, Jacqueline Week 10 Post on Carmen Lomas Garza and rasquachismo

Even though we are still learning about different Chicana artists through our activist research in this class, I wanted to talk about Carmen Lomas Garza again because she stood out to me a lot in this class. She caught my attention because of her distinct art style that I will never forget. She was able to make me feel and resonate with her art pieces about her own experiences that I have experienced as well, and so have others. Her artwork manifests a heavy amount of childhood memory that resonates with her community of Mexican Americans and family. As someone who is a Mexican American herself, her artwork never failed to make me relate to the art and feel what it was evoking. While reading Carmen Lomas Garza by Constance Cortez, these feelings started making more sense. Through her creation of these experiences in art, Carmen Lomas Garza emphasizes personal recognition between herself and the community. Oftentimes, there may be a disconnect between the artist and the audience, but with Carmen Lomas Garza, I was able to get the impression that it is not at all like that with her as an artist. Her gouache painting of la Curandera (1977) reveals a different message between the artist and reader or community that highlights a shared experience. I was really able to relate to this piece especially because my own mother has us going to Curanderas or has curanderas come into our home and practice these ceremonies or rituals. La ruda is something we all know of in my household. Passing el huevo was not shown in her artwork but is something that is also done. 

In terms of one of the concepts we learned in class, the concept and aesthetic of rasquachismo made an everlasting impact for me. Even though my household has always subconsciously taken part in this aesthetic, I never knew it had a name. I think part of the reason why Carmen Lomas Garza resonated with me so much was because it had small aspects of rasquachismo as well. 

Torres, Jacqueline Week 9 Post on Irene Perez

 

A presentation that really stood out to me this past week was on Irene Perez, a Latin American artist in Las Mujeres Muralistas. The artist that I focused on for my Wikipedia article was Graciela Carrillo, who was another member of Las Mujeres Muralistas. Therefore, Irene Perez stood out to me a lot because I had already kind of read about information relating to her through my research on Graciela Carrillo’s work in Las Mujeres Muralistas. I also included this piece on Latinoamerica in my own presentation last week and mentioned it as a notable piece in my wikipedia article for my artist. However, the reason why I am writing about it now is because Professor Alma Lopez offered an important perspective on how this artwork shows the significance of different alliances within different Latin American individuals. This painting was created during the Mexican American mural movement which is important to realize because while Chicanos were creating murals as activism and pride, it was still heavily dominated by men. By Las Mujeres Muralistas taking part in this movement as women, they were not only challenging the dominant narrative of men creating good art, but it was also calling for the unification of Latin Americans too. So even though the movement was for Mexican Americans and was dominated by men, Las Mujeres Muralistas were able to incorporate women by being women who created the art and united people from Latin America as well or included them into this movement too. This harassment from some Chicanos was that it was not perceived as revolutionary enough since it was not created by men. This artwork was not just for Mexicans, Mexican Americans, but members were from different places in Latin America too. Unity was the political statement that they were making aside from being women making this work.

Torres, Jacqueline (Week 8 Post)

The medicare for all banner-like mural stood out to me the most in Armando Perez's presentation on Brenda Barrios, a Chicana artist, and student at UCLA. Armando Perez highlighted how this art piece ended up floating around in London! This banner-like mural literally promoted Medicare for all in her community. Apparently, the individual in the mural is her mother and she is representative of the workers and marginalized people in not only her community but everywhere else around the world. This banner-like mural has been displayed outside of hospitals and architectural buildings in Los Angeles and outside of it as well. The Latino community has been sown to be disenfranchised and underinvested in which is what Brenda Barrios tries to call action upon by displaying art that directly speaks to the issues that people of color and low-income communities are facing. These communities typically do not have equitable access to health care or GOOD health care. For this reason, Brenda Barrios seems to spread awareness while simultaneously calling for action in these dominant issues that continue to perpetuate and affect these communities. By doing so, she also hits many intersections that people in London could even relate to. This was shocking information to learn about because I do not know the politics in Europe so I was never aware of them relating to this issue about health care. I was always under the impression that European health care far exceeded the unequal distribution of the health care that is seen in the United States. However, if people in London were using Brenda Barrios' artwork that called on Medicare for all, it must mean that Medicare for all does not exist in London? This especially became popular with the emergence of COVID and vaccines, and if London does not have inequitable access to health care like the United States, then this may just be a way to spread awareness about the vaccine.                                                                                                                                                                 

Torres, Jacqueline (Week 7 - Claudia Zapata)

 In Claudia Zapata’s essay on the development of digital art for Chicana/x’s, it becomes clear that the “digital age” of art is not utilized to overcome or replace typical Chicana art, however it is used as a means to engage Chicana/x art even further. In Chicanx Graphics in the Digital Age, this idea is emphasized many times throughout the essay. The digital revolution of the 1980s brought technological developments for the production of art for Chicanx. It expanded the way that Chicanx might be able to showcase their art and produce it as well which contributed to the activism associated with Chicana/o/x art. It still continues to do this because it is how I have come across a lot of art that was created by Chicana/o/x folk. I think it is especially interesting how creators gather at technology exchange centers to distribute their works online through virtual reality or augmented reality. This comes as a surprise to me because I am only familiar with virtual reality or augmented reality being a part of video games or other sorts of entertainment. I didn't even know that Chicanx art could be produced on something that I think of as a game. These new digital ways to produce art are combined with other techniques which are highlighted in this essay. I think that this is important because as the world continues to develop, I still think that there is a significance in maintaining an aspect of the art from before a development. It reminds me a little bit about urbanization and globalization. The effects of development have had some good impacts on the world, but there are also bad ones. In the same way, if art transitions to an entirely different platform, I don’t think it would be as good. For this reason, I like how the essay emphasizes how the development of the digital age in art still uses aspects of art processes from before the digital age.

Torres, Jacqueline (Week 6) Post on Xandra Ibarra

 

While examining Xandra Ibarra’s work, I realized how much her work represents feminist anti-rape and prison abolitionist movement sentiments. The work is a little shocking because I have never been exposed to works like this, but I am also intrigued by the meaning behind them. The Nude Laughing image and live performance was very moving yet shocking. I am still not even able to tell if it was real because it looked real but then the top part for the breasts looked like a barbie doll’s chest. I do have a lot of questions about the pieces. I wonder if this has anything to say towards beauty standards and trying to look like a doll. I also wonder if the yellow heels that she is wearing symbolize anything because she is essentially nude except the shoes. Is it an ironic challenge towards norms? Are the people in the video and images real people on the streets or are they props to enhance the message that she is trying to convey on challenging racial and sexual norms? What was the purpose of laughing? In my mind, I thought of it as Xandra Ibarra laughing at the norms and thus challenging them but then the laughter became what sounded like moans. The moans can also call on the stigma of sex on society. However, at some points the laughter sounded like a crazy laugh at the same time. I think if I were walking like one of the random pedestrians in the video, I would think that Xandra Ibarra was someone who was on drugs which probably speaks to the message that Xandra is trying to convey or question. She may be questioning why being naked is such a bad thing or why it is shunned on to the point where only someone who is on drugs would do something like that. I’m also curious about the sack and what it might signify when she goes inside of it.

Week 5 Post - Curandera by Carmen Lomas Garza (Torres, Jacqueline)

 

Carmen Lomas Garza's gouache painting on cotton paper Curandera (1977) reveals a relationship between her religion and practices that her family and herself utilized for healing. This piece hints at the complexity of Carmen Lomas Garza's work because even though catholicism and the practices of curanderas may seem to clash or contradict each other, Garza is able to highlight how there is a broader culture that exists through this relationship. The use of catholic icons in this piece are juxtaposed with the ruda ritual to heal in order to reflect on how these can coexist, as they did in the artist's life. I can relate to this picture because I am Mexican American and I grew up with catholicism in my household, yet in my household we also heavily practiced these sorts of rituals as well. Even without an official curandera, my mother would pass ruda by our bodies as other family members watched. Some other practices that my mother would practice on us without a curandera while still being a firm believer in catholicism is passing an egg over ourselves as well. The egg was also a means to cleanse ourselves from bad energy or to see if there is any bad energy around us. Since I am not as religious, I do not know if there is a contradiction between being catholic and practicing these healing rituals, but since my mom does it, I would think that it is okay and it just speaks to what Carmen Lomas Garza was probably trying to reveal through this art piece. I think there is a stigma behind curandera practices as being a part of witch craft, but to me, it is much more complex than that. Through the artist's usecatholic icons and other curandera practices it reveals the nature of a broader culture as a Chicana. 

Wikipedia Draft for Graciela Carrillo (Torres, Jacqueline)

Graciela Carrillo 

Introduction

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Graciela Carrillo (born in Los Angeles, CA in 1950) is a Chicana artist in San Francisco and member in an all-female Chicana and Latina artist group, Las Mujeres Muralistas. She is a co-founder of La Galeria de la Raza, a gallery utilized to showcase the everyday lives of the Chicano community through art during the Chicano Civil Rights movement. 

Biography

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Education

Graciela Carrillo attended California State University in San Jose when she was living in Los Angeles, California. Like her contemporary and friend, Patricia Rodriguez, Graciela Carrillo moved to San Francisco where she attended the San Francisco Art Institute in 1969 through a scholarship. She attended the art institute at the same time as Patricia Rodriguez where they eventually became roommates and ideas about their mission would surface. By being allowed to study as a Chicana woman, Carrillo was able to learn about her past and classic mural art which enabled her to create her own mural art with Las Mujeres Muralistas where she infused her knowledge from school and her contemporaries. 

Mission

Graciela Carrillo created art with ideological stances as a Chicana artist. Her letter as a response to Malaquías Montoya’s essay, “A Critical Perspective in the State of Chicano Art,” reveals her mission as a Chicana artist. In this letter, Graciela challenges the author’s rhetorical style that is difficult to read and their Marxist and sexist perspectives that ignore Chicana artists’ struggle to create art while juggling different aspects in life as a woman. Her letter to Montoya highlights her goal to deconstruct the dominant and ideal versions of art in response to gender differences and male dominated careers. 

The principles behind mural making in La Mujeres Muralistas mural collective emphasizes the significance that collectivity has through mural making for these Chicana women. Though many art critics argue that their art is not “political enough,” Las Mujeres Muralistas highlight that their art is also for the purpose of community and children. They create art in order to bring art closer to the people in underrepresented and disenfranchised communities. 

Art

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Latino-America

In Latino-America, Graciela Carrillo, Patricia Rodríguez, Consuelo Mendez, and Irene Perez - and their four assistants - Tuti Rodriguez, Miriam Olivas, Xochitl Nevel-Guerrero, and Estér Hernández painted a 70 ft by 20 ft mural on a high wall. This mural was notable for using only and all female artists which led to the leading artists being named La Mujeres Muralistas. It was commissioned by Mission Model Cities in 1974. 

Soñar Despierto: Seriographs and Mural Exhibit

From March 9, 1974 to March 31, 1974, Graciela Carrillo’s art was exhibited in Galeria de la Raza’s mural exhibits. Her artworks in this series represent warm and bright colors, many which represent cactuses. Her artwork represented symbols of Mexican-American culture. 

Marzo

Marzo depicts an indigenous man with angel wings being guided by figures through the indigenous calendar. This art piece was created in 1975 and it was displayed in la Galeria de la Raza. Many of her works depict indigenous aspects of life.  

References

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1. “Mujeres Muralistas.” Imagine: International Chicano Poetry Journal, vol. 3, no.1-2, 1986, pp. 147-148. International Center for the Arts of the Americas, https://icaa.mfah.org/s/en/item/809311#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-69%2C2292%2C1323%2C767 

2. Cordova, Cary. "Hombres Y Mujeres Muralistas on a Mission: Painting Latino Identities in 1970s San Francisco." Latino Studies, vol. 4, no. 4, 2006, pp. 356-380. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/hombres-y-mujeres-muralistas-on-mission-painting/docview/222609151/se-2?accountid=14512, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.lst.8600223.

3. Nieto, Adrian. “Galería de la Raza: A Legacy in Cultural Activism.” Weedee Peepo, San Francisco, 2005, http://www.galeriadelaraza.org/eng/exhibits/archive/reviews/WEEDEE%20PEEPO-catalogue.pdf 

4. Carrillo, Graciela to Malaquías Montoya, La Misión, San Francisco, December 18, 1970. https://icaa.mfah.org/s/en/item/848837#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-2001%2C-111%2C6551%2C3666 

Further reading

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1. https://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb558009kg/?layout=metadata&brand=oac4

2. https://art.famsf.org/graciela-carrillo/marzo-19751138 

External links

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1. https://mujeresmuralistas.tumblr.com/

2. ​​https://americanart.si.edu/artist/graciela-carrillo-31885

Torres, Jacqueline (Week 4 post)

 I have taken a previous course on the Day of the Dead ritual here at UCLA, and I was delighted to learn about rasquachismo. The aesthetic and concept of being rasquache was introduced to us through an essay in which the author defined how being rasquache or rasquachismo is making something beautiful out of something mundane from our everyday lives as Mexican Americans. We explored this by speaking about our own experiences as Chicanos, and I personally was really able to relate to the topic and concept because my family and I continue to do that even now. Even though my parents have been in the U.S for over 30 years, and my siblings and I were born in the United States, we continue to express rasquachismo whether intentional or not. Currently, we do not have any objects lying around our house that show rasquachismo aesthetic but I will be attaching an image of some art that I created for my Day of the Dead Ritual class in reference to rasquachismo. However, some other examples to show this concept can be found in how my family and I recycle containers of food products or candles and repurpose them into something useful or beautiful. For example, my family buys a lot of candles for La Virgen de Guadalupe, San Juditas, and more, and instead of throwing away the candle vase when the wax finishes, we clean out the vase and use it for flowers or sometimes even as cups (for the thicker diameter candles). Another example of this is how we use butter containers to put soap and water to wash the dishes. So when thinking about domesticana, we can think about rasquachismo but through feminist representation. In the image that I will be including with my post, I made one of the mundane candles of my everyday life into something beautiful once it ran out. To go with the theme of day of the dead, I drew La Catrina on the candle as a santa.

Torres, Jacqueline - Research Abstract on Graciela Carrillo

Cordova, Cary. "Hombres Y Mujeres Muralistas on a Mission: Painting Latino Identities in 1970s San Francisco." Latino Studies, vol. 4, no. 4, 2006, pp. 356-380. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/hombres-y-mujeres-muralistas-on-mission-painting/docview/222609151/se-2?accountid=14512, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.lst.8600223.

The purpose of this article is to highlight the significance of mural making through a political and social lens. This is emphasized through two groups of mural makers that are carefully examined, one of those being La Mujeres Muralistas, a group of Chicana/Latina artists who create art as a tribute for feminism and their Chicana blood. According to Cordova, the two groups were different in terms of how they represented, but both groups were aiming to highlight depictions of their Latin America.

“Graciela Carrillo.” SAAM, ​​https://americanart.si.edu/artist/graciela-carrillo-31885.

In this website page, the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) is displaying biographical information on the mural artist named Graciela Carrillo. On their artist and art tab, the SAAM additionally displays information about the artist’s work from one of La Galeria de la Raza’s archives. The information regarding Graciela Carrillo’s work has the work’s title, date, location, dimensions, credit line, mediums description, classification, and the object’s number.

“Mujeres Muralistas.” Imagine: International Chicano Poetry Journal, vol. 3, no.1-2, 1986, pp. 147-148. International Center for the Arts of the Americas, https://icaa.mfah.org/s/en/item/809311#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-69%2C2292%2C1323%2C767.

This book section in a larger manifesto on a Chicano Poetry Journal has a collection of works written by Chicano/as. These few pages on Las Mujeres Muralistas are written through a first person perspective of the group. They reveal their goal and thus the importance of having a collective through Chicana muralists in an art field that does not have much representation for Chicana artists. Patricia Rodriquez, Irene Perez, Graciela Carrillo, and Consuelo Mendez emphasize that their aim as mural artists is to bring art to the community as Chicana artists who were heavily underrepresented.

Nieto, Adrian. “Galería de la Raza: A Legacy in Cultural Activism.” Weedee Peepo, San Francisco, 2005, http://www.galeriadelaraza.org/eng/exhibits/archive/reviews/WEEDEE%20PEEPO-catalogue.pdf.

In this exhibition catalog, there are a few essays that introduce the artists who are portrayed in the catalog. This essay includes a reference to Graciella Carrillo who helped found la Galería de la Raza in San Francisco along with many other artists. This short essay examines the emergence of La Galeria de la Raza during the Chicano Movement in 1970. The author emphasizes how the Chicano movement aimed to enhance the community’s everyday lives, and thus how La Galeria de la Raza served as a way to do this.

Torres, Jacqueline (Week 3 Post)

 As a Chicana myself, the traditions and beliefs that my parents held trickled down to my siblings and I. Even though my siblings and I were born here, mour Mexican roots will always be engraved within us. Along with blood ties to our Mexican origins, we also carry the beliefs and religion that was primarily practiced where both of my parents are from in Mexico. We listened to the ideas of catholicism (although now I am discovering what religion means to me). When my family faced tribulations with the separation of my parents in 2011, my mother really enforced the religion upon my siblings and I. We used to have sparse reminders of catholicism in the home which were seen through crosses on the walls or necklaces which served as reminders, but then it became one our identity. I remember we would go to church twice a week and primarily go to the Virgen de Guadalupe altar that was on the right side of the church. We additionally got more reminders of our faith in the home that were seen through bigger paintings or statues and candles of the Virgen de Guadalupe and other saints such as San Juditas. Even now, 10 years later, we continue to have this Virgen de Guadalupe painting which we posted on a wall where we exclusively have bouquets of flowers and fairy lights to honor her. We do not continue to go everyday, and like I said, I am trying to discover my own faith now, but we continue to have this mini “altar” for her. Another way that I remember la Virgen de Guadalupe is through one of the novelas that we would watch on Univision 34. Since we didn’t have cable, this was one of the main things that my siblings and I would watch growing up. Each episode had a different lesson that people could learn from where la Virgen played a major role in the characters figuring things out or working out for them.

This is our mini altar:

Felix, Gloria

2. Valdez, Anna 

3. Ortega, Mirelle

Torres, Jacqueline (Jackie)

Hi all! My name is Jacqueline Torres. I am a first-generation student going into my third year here at UCLA. I am majoring in Geography/ Environmental Studies, and I have recently picked up a minor in Chicana/o/x Studies. My preferred pronouns are she/her, and I prefer being called Jackie. 

This past summer, I took a Dead of the Dead course at UCLA which piqued my interest in the artistic aspect of the CCAS major/minor. Up until now, I have pretty much only been exposed the social science aspect of Chicana/o/x Studies. After taking this class over the summer, I was able to learn more about some prominent Mexican and Mexican American artists through the Day of the Dead ritual. Even though we did examine some Chicana artists, the art that we were learning about still felt heavily dominated by male Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, and/or Latino artists. For this reason, the class focus on Chicana Art and Artists motivated me to take this class. 

While reading Linda Nochlin's Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists, the ideas that were being expressed to challenge this question reminded me of the same arguments that people use to counter why Black folk in America have more or less of something even if they are supposed to be equal to America's other counterparts. The main argument that people make in these situations is that it is based on hard work, and if you work hard, you can be just as successful. However, what these people fail to realize is what Nochlin pointed out in her essay. Nochlin pointed out that the answer to this question is realized through the nature of our institutional structures and the reality for those who are a part of them (Nochlin 3).