MEXICAN-AMERICAN TRADITION AND
PROTEST
This
virtual exhibition focuses on the work of two contemporary Mexican-American
artists: Consuelo Underwood, a weaver, and Diego Rios, a printmaker.
Both create challenging works that deal with social issues following
the tradition of the great Mexican muralists and printmakers.
Rios recalls that at the age of three he saw a painting by Orozco
which would determine the course of his life. Rios' work shows
the influence of the political concerns of Orozco, images of death
influenced by Posada's Calaveras, and militant angels of Colonial
Latin America. He combines these and other influences with a fantasy
inspired by the Surrealists and words of rock music to create
powerful anti-war images that are uniquely his own.
Underwood
revives the beauty and the techniques of ancient Andean weavers
, but adds references to heroes of the Mexican Revolution and
to the plight of the migratory agricultural works. She combines
images of the Virgin of Guadalupe with the contemporary caution
sign seen on highways in California and Arizona which warn motorists
not to hit running migrants. Underwood identifies with the little
girl in the sign which shows a family fleeing across the border,
for as a child she worked the fields of California with her family
and had to cross the border many times. She recalls that as a
girl of nine she read the story of Joan of Arc, the poor shepherdess
who followed her voices. Consuelo decided that if Joan could lead
the troops of the French king against the English, she could work
her way out of the fields. She did so, and has become one of the
outstanding craftsmen of the United States. In the exhibition
you will see the shrouds she wove for Joan of Arc and for her
other heroes.
You may examine the work
of Rios and Underwood in great detail by clicking on the thumbnail images in the Contemporary section and
following the instructions for zooming them. This uses a special
technology that allows large images to go quickly over the web
by sending only the parts of the image that you are examining.
Other
parts of the exhibition will set the work of these two artists
in context, examining the traditions that helped shape their work: the
great traditions of Pre-Columbian Mexico and Peru, the conquest
by the Spaniards who brought a lust for gold and a new religion,
and the blending of the Christian Virgin Mary with the ancient
Aztec goddesses to create the powerful and compassionate Virgin
of Guadalupe (watch
animation). You will see the transformation of the Christian
feast of All Souls as it interacted with indigenous beliefs regarding
death to create the Mexican Day of the Dead, and you will see
how the festival is celebrated in San Francisco , California in
2003.
You
will have the opportunity to learn a bit about the Mexican Revolution
and its heroes and about the great Mexican artists of the people:
Rivera, Orozco, Siquieros, and Tamayo. You will also learn about
the legendary Aztlan, the northern homeland of the ancient Aztecs
before they migrated to the Valley of Mexico and the dream of
return which is being acted out by contemporary migrants who come
to work in 'el Norte.'
The
seventeen students who worked on this project are designers, computer
and multimedia specialits, and art historians. They come from
a variety of backgrounds: African-American, Chinese-American,
Thai-American, Filipino-American, Mexican-American, Anglo, Anglo-Indian,
Taiwanese, mainland Chinese, and Kenyan. As they worked on the
project they learned about the Mexican-American heritage, and
they talked about the meaning of the work of these two artists
which combined and distilled a variety of traditions, and about
the artists themselves whose very lives blended their cultural
traditions with their identities as Americans. This had special
meaning for the students who are so-called 'new Americans,'
who are in the process of defining themselves in relation to their
own cultural traditions and their new identities as Americans.
From the work of Diego Rios and Consuelo Underwood we all learned
that art is able at the same time to encapsulate and to transcend
individual experience in order to speak to us all.
We
share our efforts with you and hope that through this exhibition
you will come to appreciate another facet of the rich tapestry
that makes up the American tradition, a tradition in which we
hope that each American, old or new, will be valued for their
individual contribution.
--Kathleen
Cohen, Professor of Art History, San Jose State University
From
a Student Perspective
Anand
Patel, BA Design Studies
David Medal, BA Design Studies-minor Photography
David Nguyen , BFA Digital Media-Graphic Design
Eduardo Gamino, BA Digital Media
Euray Kwong, BA Design Studios
Gladys Murphy, BFA Digital Media
I-Fang Liu, MA Digital Media in Art History & Education
Jennifer Jimenez, BFA Digital Media
Kelly Zelnio, MA Art History
Kanako Ota, MFA, Digital Media
Kristan Calvert, MA Art History
Kristen Smith, BFA Graphic Design
Lemuel Herring, BA Studio Art
Perry Chan, SBA Graphic Design
Randy Alonso, BA Design
Ryan Jung, BFA Digital Media
Ryan Kelley, SBA Design
Sarah Kinuthia, BFA Digital Media
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