"Bombs Not Bread" - Dia de los Muertos

My silkscreen poster "Bombs Not Bread", was directly influenced by the works of the great Mexican satirical printmaker, José Guadalupe Posada, as well as the Chicano arts movement of the late 60s/early 70s. Created in 1983 as a Day of the Dead poster, my artwork depicts a military "calaca" - Mexican/Chicano slang for skeleton - along with text that serves as a mocking inversion of the peace movement's slogan, "Bread Not Bombs".

[ Bombs Not Bread - Mark Vallen. 1983. Silkscreen street poster. 14" x 20". ]

My poster was printed on cheap paper and utilized as street art when it was first published. "Bombs Not Bread" was also included in the 1984 traveling antiwar exhibit, End of the Rainbow, organized by the Los Angeles based performance art group, Sisters of Survival (S.O.S.). The End of the Rainbow exhibit traveled from California to New York, Massachusetts, Nova Scotia, and finally to Canada. Some of the artists in the show included Leon Golub, Nancy Spero, Jerry Kearns, and Judy Baca.

To celebrate Dia de los Muertos 2008 and the 25th anniversary of issuing my artwork, I am offering a limited number of these original 1983 edition hand-signed prints for $25 apiece. Being printed on inexpensive paper they are slightly yellowed with age, but the humorous take on Generalissimo Death still rings true. You can purchase the prints here.

Auction Fundraiser for Ave. 50 Studio

I contributed my original pencil drawing, Joven ("Youth"), to the successful fundraising auction in support of Avenue 50 Studio, L.A.’s much beloved community arts gallery located in the city’s Highland Park neighborhood. Not only have I had the pleasure of exhibiting at the gallery in the past, I’ve attended many wonderful exhibits and community meetings there over the years. The gallery has showcased multicultural artists on a local, national and international level, and has helped to launch careers for many emerging artists. Los Angeles would certainly be diminished without the presence of Avenue 50 Studio, so it was an honor to provide art to the fundraiser.

[ Joven ("Youth") - Mark Vallen. Pencil on paper. 11 x 14 inches. 2002. This drawing of a young Latino was sold at the benefit auction for Ave. 50 Studio. Click here for a larger view. ]

Participating artists in the auction included Raoul De la Sota, Margaret Garcia, Mark Steven Greenfield, CiCi Segura Gonzalez, Wayne Healy, Leo Limon, Jose Lopes, Poli Marichal, Gil Ortiz, the Estate of Anthony Quinn, Frank and Sharon Romero, Francisco Siquieros, Cindy Suriyani, J. Michael Walker, Jaime Zacarias (Germs), and dozens of other talented artists too numerous to mention here. If you’re in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles, consider visiting Ave 50 Studio, one of the city's prized community galleries.

Diego Rivera: Glorious Victory!

Fifty years after the death of Diego Rivera, the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) in Mexico City has launched a major exhibition to celebrate the famed Mexican Muralist. Having opened on September 28th, 2007, the important exhibit titled, Diego Rivera: Epopeya Mural (Diego Rivera: Epic Mural), presents 170 works of art by the radical Mexican artist, including 23 monumental wall paintings, as well as dozens of drawings and studies associated with the painter’s internationally renowned murals.

It was of course Rivera, along with his compatriots David Alfaro Siquieros and José Clemente Orozco, who broke the dependent links to European culture, helping to create authentic visual aesthetics for Mexico and establishing the profoundly influential, socially conscious Mexican Mural School in the process. I traveled to Mexico City in 1994 and marveled at the works of Rivera, Siquieros, and Orozco that are housed at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. No other group of artists has had such a profound effect upon me, and I’d give my eye teeth to see this tribute to Diego Rivera.

Ending December 16th, 2007, the two-month long show is mounted in eight halls of the museum, and comes on the heels of that institution having presented the largest body of Frida Kahlo’s artworks to ever be put on display - a just completed exhibition that commemorated Kahlo’s 100th birthday. The focus of Epopeya Mural is Rivera’s large transportable mural, Glorious Victory, a long missing work thought lost, but recently returned to Mexico by Russia’s Puskin Museum of Moscow, where it had been in storage for nearly half a century.

[ Glorious Victory - Diego Rivera. Movable mural painted on linen. 1954. Museum goers view Rivera’s recounting of the infamous CIA coup that overthrew Guatemala’s democratically elected government. The mural is shown on display at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes in this AP photo by Andrew Winning. ]

Painted in 1954, the mockingly titled Glorious Victory has as its subject the infamous CIA coup of the same year that overthrew Guatemala’s democratically elected government. At the center of the mural, CIA Director John Foster Dulles can be seen shaking hands with the leader of the coup d'état, Colonel Castillo Armas. Sitting at their feet is an anthropomorphized bomb bearing the smiling face of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower - who gave orders to launch the military coup. In the background, a priest can be seen officiating over the massacre of workers, many of which can be seen lying slaughtered in the painting’s foreground.

The head of the Central Intelligence Agency at the time of the coup, Allen Dulles, and the U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala during the coup, John Peurify, are depicted handing out money to various Guatemalan military commanders and fascist junta officials, as Mexican Indian workers slave away at loading bananas onto a United Fruit Company ship. I might add that Allen Dulles was on the board of directors of the United Fruit Company when the U.S. overthrew the government of Guatemala.

[ Detail: Glorious Victory - Diego Rivera 1954. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower is portrayed as a bomb, and a Guatemalan stooge shakes hands with his CIA puppet master as U.S. dollars are spread all around. AP photo by Eduardo Verdugo. ]

Epopeya Mural will be the first time Glorious Victory has been exhibited in Mexico. Rivera painted the mural on linen, and donated it to the workers of the then Soviet Union. The mural was shipped to Warsaw, Poland, in 1956 for an exhibition that was to travel Eastern European countries. At the end of the traveling exhibit the painting was missing. As it turned out, the mural ended up in a storeroom at the Puskin Museum, where it has been sitting since 1958. Because the painting had been sequestered away in a darkened room for safekeeping, its bright, lustrous colors are in perfect condition. Glorious Victory is apparently a two-sided painting, as museum conservators say an unfinished section on the mural’s backside depicts the exploitation of workers in U.S. factories.

The U.S. overthrew the elected government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán through a covert CIA operation dubbed Operation PBSUCCESS. Guzmán had implemented an agrarian reform program to alleviate the suffering of Guatemala’s poor Indian peasants, who comprised (and still do), the overwhelming majority of the country’s population. To Guatemala’s privileged elites and their military allies, as well as dominant U.S. corporations like the United Fruit Company (Guatemala’s biggest landowner at the time), Guzmán’s reforms smacked of communism. CIA records referred to Guatemala’s socio-economic improvements as; "an intensely nationalistic program of progress colored by the touchy, anti-foreign inferiority complex of the 'Banana Republic.'"

In May of 1997, The CIA released several hundred declassified documents relating to Operation PBSUCCESS, some of which detailed the spy agency having compiled lists of Guatemalans in the Guzmán government, "to eliminate immediately in event of a successful anti-Communist coup." Declassified documents also contained a 19-page manual titled, "Study of Assassination", a how-to guide book that instructed, "The simplest local tools are often much the most efficient means of assassination. A hammer, axe, wrench, screw driver, fire poker, kitchen knife, lamp stand, or anything hard, heavy and handy will suffice." If you are interested in reading some of these revealing documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, they are available at the website of the National Security Archive at The George Washington University.

Included in the exhibit at the Palacio de Bellas Artes are sketches, notes and preparatory works Rivera made for the murals he created at Mexico’s National Palace, Secretariat of Public Education, the Theater of the Insurgents, and other notable public buildings. Also on display are Rivera’s drawings and preliminary sketches for murals painted in the United States, like the monumental frescos at the Detroit Institute of the Arts that portray American workers laboring in an automobile factory. The sketches for Rivera’s huge 1934 mural at Rockefeller Center in New York City, Man at the Crossroads, will be on exhibit as well. After John D. Rockefeller, Jr., had the masterpiece destroyed because it contained a portrait of Soviet leader, Vladimir Lenin, Rivera recreated the massive fresco at the Palacio de Ballas Artes, but included in it a portrait of Rockefeller with syphilis bacteria floating above his head. Of course, the recreated Man at the Crossroads is part of the Epopeya Mural exhibit.

It is important to recall that in 1954 Frida Kahlo’s last public act was to participate in a demonstration opposed to the U.S. intervention in Guatemala as it was occurring. Kahlo did so from a wheelchair and against her doctor’s orders - and she passed away two weeks later. Rivera painted his Glorious Victory in the same timeframe, passing away in 1957.

The Royal Chicano Air Force Still Flys

Ricardo Favela, a founding member of the groundbreaking Chicano Arts collective, the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF, aka: The Rebel Chicano Art Front), died of a heart attack this past July 15th, 2007. He was 62. The RCAF colectivo was founded in Sacramento, California, in 1969, and through its inspired and tireless output was intrumental in helping to establish the Chicano Arts Movement. Favela and other members of the RCAF painted more than a dozen public murals in Sacramento, as well as establishing community arts programs like the Barrio Art Program for impoverished Chicano children, and the Anciano Art Project for elders.

[ Centro de artistas-Chicanos - Ricardo Favela, Silkscreen poster 1975. The Center for Chicano Artists was a school where the RCAF taught silkscreen printing techniques and mural making. Favela’s humorous poster depicts two skeletal vatos examining a silkscreen frame and the drawing they’ve made on it. ]

But it was the silkscreen poster works of Favela and the RCAF that had the most profound impact. Those posters were highly political, and expressed community concerns from the Vietnam war and gang violence, to supporting the United Farm Workers. In the extensive Los Angeles Times obituary for Favela, the following single paragraph summed things up nicely:

"'Social commentary was the point of Ricardo's art,' said Catherine Turrill, chairwoman of the Sacramento State art department, in an interview this week. For the Royal Chicano Air Force, she said, 'art was an instrument of social change.'"

The posters of Favela and the RCAF brought unity and pride to the Mexican American community, and those prints flew across the U.S. and around the world - indeed, some of them flew right into the mind of yours truly, where they found fertile ground. I’m indebted to Favela and his RCAF compeñeros, a great many of us are. As fate would have it, Favela passed away just days before the opening of Dos Generaciones, an exhibition of his artworks at Sacramento’s Toyroom Gallery organized by Favela and his former students, Manuel Rios and Xico Gonzalez. The exhibit runs until August 11th, 2007, if you’re in the vicinity, drop by and pay your last respects to a beloved artista.

[ Rivera Orozco Siqueiros - Ricardo Favela, Silkscreen poster 1973. Favela’s poster served as an announcement for an exhibit of "Original Drawings and Prints by Mexican Revolutionary Muralists" that took place at the Main Art Gallery, California State University Sacramento, Nov. 1, 1973. ]

There is much about today’s art world that I find tedious and unpalatable. The mediocrity, elitism and pretentiousness, the bloated egos and the ceaseless pursuit of fame and riches. But even in death, Favela touches me with his implacable spirit - reminding me that there is another way. A humble man has passed from this world, a man who in every respect was dedicated to his art and his people… he left an example for all of us to follow.

The Royal Chicano Air Force Still Flys.

Call For Art: Day of the Dead

The 2nd City Council Art Gallery and Performance Space in Long Beach, California, has asked me to act as juror for their upcoming exhibit, Dia de los Muertos. For those artists interested in submitting works, I’m publishing the gallery’s Call for Art on this web log. A complete and detailed prospectus for the exhibit is available here.

Call for Artists living in California
Dia de los Muertos.
Entry Deadline is Sunday, September 16, 2007

Eligibility
All artists living in California.
All media except film and video.
All work submitted for consideration must be available for exhibition October 27 – November 22, 2007.

Cash awards $500, $300, $200, $100 plus the infamous Eye Opener Statue.

Entry Submissions. Images can be presented four ways:
Slides - standard 2"x 2" mounted, labeled slides (no glass)
Photographs - at least 5"x7", no bigger than 8.5"x 11"
Digital Prints - at least 5"x7", no bigger than 8.5"x 11"
Emailed images - to: 2ndcitycouncil@earthlink.net - JPEG or TIFF files only; cannot exceed 500 KB.

Entry Fees are $10 per entry for members and $20 per entry for nonmembers. Become a member of the 2nd City Council and get your first entry free. Volunteer Hours (in the gallery or at home on your computer) are welcome in lieu of entry fees.

Mail submissions to: 2nd City Council Art Gallery + Performance Space. 435 Alamitos Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802. Phone: (562) 901-0997. E-mail: 2ndcitycouncil@earthlink.net. Web: www.2ndcitycouncil.org

For years, Long Beach has celebrated Dia de los Muertos in a huge apartment complex and courtyard. The 2nd City Council Art Gallery + Performance Space (2cc) is now a neighbor and has been invited to participate. This year the gates on both sides of the alley will open wide to encourage an exchange of culture, art, fun and flow of community from the apartment courtyard to 2cc’s gallery and garden. The courtyard is a magical place where altars, candlelight, marigolds, Aztec dancing and live music will fill the air. In addition to the exhibition and the community ofrenda, 2cc’s garden will likewise be transformed with altars, calaveras, music, movies, delicious food & desserts and craft vendors. Please join us.

It’s an honor for me to be selected as the juror for the 2nd City Council’s Dia de los Muertos exhibition. In the past the gallery's distinguished jurors have included, amongst others: Carol S. Eliel, Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at LACMA; Barbara Drucker, Chair of the Art Department, UCLA; Betti-Sue Hertz, Curator of Contemporary Art at San Diego Museum of Art; Ruth Weisberg, Dean of the School of Fine Arts, USC; Wesley Jessup, Executive Director of the Pasadena Museum of California Art; Patt Morrison, L.A. Times writer and columnist and founding commentator of "Life & Times" and Sara Cochran, Ph.D. Associate Curator LACMA. I’m sure that with the participation of the working artists who read this web log, Dia de los Muertos will be a lively and vibrant exhibition.

[ La Muerta - Mark Vallen 2006. Oil on masonite panel. Portrait of a young Chicana celebrating the ancient Mexican holiday of Dia de los Muertos. ]

Frida Kahlo’s 100th birthday

To celebrate the 100th birthday of artist Frida Kahlo, which falls on July 6th, 2007, Mexico’s Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) is exhibiting the largest body of Kahlo’s artworks ever to be put on public display anywhere in the world. Opening June 13th, 2007 and running until August 19th, 2007, the show is the first comprehensive exhibit of the artist’s works to be held in Mexico, and it’s comprised of some 354 original drawings and paintings - as well as a portion of Kahlo’s manuscripts and letters. In addition, talks on Kahlo’s political views and influence on the arts will be held in conjunction with the exhibit. The Associate Press quoted Bellas Artes Director Roxana Gonzalez as saying, "It is important for our visitors to know that Frida wrote, thought - challenged the Americans - here they will see the complete Frida."

[ Self-portrait with Necklace - Frida Kahlo. Oil on panel. 1933. ]

And that complete view of Frida is long overdue, especially here in the United States, where "Fridamania" has refashioned the radical artist into a series of harmless and exotic clichés. In Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo, author Hayden Herrera wrote that the artist became, "first a legend, then a myth and now a cult figure." The end of that statement is most certainly true, and Herrera played no small role in the transformation of Kahlo into a pop icon - her 1983 biography served as the basis for director Julie Taymor’s 2002 Frida, starring Salma Hayek as Kahlo. Unfortunately that film has become the prevailing English-language history of the left-wing painter.

[ After the success of director Julie Taymor’s Frida, Kahlo’s Self-Portrait with Monkey, which originally graced the first edition of Hayden Herrera’s book, was replaced with a photograph of Salma Hayek - completing the erasure of Kahlo the woman and the triumph of Frida the Hollywood representation. ]

In an interview conducted for PBS by filmmaker Amy Stechler (The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo), Herrera was asked when people started to recognize Frida as a painter, and she responded by saying:

"(….) in the second half of the seventies, she was not really very well known. In Mexico, she was known as Diego Rivera's sort of peculiar wife with the strange little paintings that most people really didn't like very much. They were too peculiar. And too weird. They are weird. I mean, we've gotten used to them now, but they still are kind of weird. And in the United States, I don't think many people had heard of her. At least, I'd never heard of her until somebody…Max Kozlov and Joyce Kozlov presented me with a catalog and said, 'Go write about it for Art Forum.' And that was about, I think around 1974 - '74, '75 - somewhere in there. Anyway, I think Frida Kahlo's fame began in the late '70s and had a lot to do with feminism, had a lot to do with the Chicana people in the United States loving having this sort of emblem of Mexicanidad and loving her whole story, because it's a painful one."

As a devotee of Kahlo, Herrera’s observations as quoted above are on target, but what exactly is she telling us? That the reasons for Kahlo’s fame have less to do with her abilities as an artist and more to do with the sensibilities of a contemporary audience? That’s quite a revealing statement regarding the cult of personality that has developed around Kahlo, which seems to have more to do with her tragic personal life than with her actual artistic output. When Herrera admits that Kahlo is understood as "myth" and "cult figure," we’ve already slipped into territory where anything about the artist will be believed, which is undeniably why the Taymor/Hayek version of Kahlo’s life was so popular in the United States. The superficial film provided its audience with an easy to digest soap opera that focused on the sex lives and marital problems of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo - it was a movie that for all intents and purposes effectively stripped Kahlo of her political beliefs.

[ Marxism Will Give Health to the Sick - Frida Kahlo. Oil on panel. 1954. Arranged like a votive religious painting, Kahlo depicted the earth, a dove of peace, and Karl Marx, as holistic forces ready to vanquish all afflictions. Kahlo portrayed herself freed from pain by the hands of Marx, which simultaneously strangle a vulture-like Uncle Sam. At the time of this painting Kahlo was in such severe pain that she could no longer work without taking strong pain medication - a factor that lead to the less precise nature of her late works. ]

I’ve been singing the praises of Frida Kahlo ever since the early 1970’s, but I find it astonishing that she’s now perceived - at least outside of Mexico - as that country’s leading artist, while her compatriots in the Mexican Muralist Movement have largely been excised from history. To gauge the depth and breadth of "Fridamania" and how quickly the phenomenon took over, one need only examine the 1988 PBS American Masters documentary about her husband, Rivera in America, which detailed the art and career of the eminent painter. Though you do catch glimpses of Kahlo in the documentary, the hour-long film barely mentioned her, and instead focused on the achievements of Rivera - who played an enormous role in changing the face of his nation’s art and culture. Today that portrayal has been entirely reversed, with Kahlo the super-star in the limelight and Diego left forgotten.

I don’t mean to imply that Kahlo doesn’t deserve acknowledgment or that she should be thrown back into obscurity - personally I love her art and recognize her as a fantastic, inspiring painter. But the passing of time should bring about a deeper appreciation of artists and art movements once misunderstood, and while time has no doubt been good to Frida Kahlo - why have the extraordinary artists surrounding her been retired to the shadows? It has been relatively easy to commodify Kahlo’s works over the likes of those by fellow radical painters Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, José Clemente Orozco, Jean Charlot, Pablo O' Higgins, Juan O' Gorman and others. But it’s a mistake to view these didactic artists as "political" while maintaining Kahlo’s paintings were simply "personal." Kahlo’s works are the perfect example of "the personal being the political." No less than the founder of Surrealism, André Breton, recognized this fact. He famously said that "The art of Frida Kahlo is a ribbon around a bomb."

[ This photo shows Kahlo in her last public act, July 2nd, 1954 - demonstrating against the CIA organized military coup that overthrew the elected government of Guatemala. A year prior Kahlo’s right leg had been amputated below the knee for health reasons. Against her doctor’s advice, Frida went to the protest in a wheel chair while convalescing from pneumonia. She held a placard depicting a dove carrying the message, Por la Paz (For the Peace.) Diego Rivera can be seen behind her with his hand on her shoulder. Less than two weeks after the protest, Frida Kahlo passed away. ]

A militant if unorthodox communist, Kahlo was connected to the major political events of her day. Whatever one makes of her politics, ideology was undeniably a major force that consistently ran through her life, so I find it annoying that her persona has been recast to fit the current intellectual atmosphere. While big money and fan worship have airbrushed Kahlo into an easily digestible, exotic commodity - the truth can be found elsewhere. As fate would have it, an exciting new discovery has been made that re-emphasizes the undying loyalty and comradeship between Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. The Mexican paper, La Jornada, reports that scientists in Mexico City have found over 100 hitherto unknown drawings created by the couple. The artworks, along with photos and letters, were secreted away in a hidden room of the Casa Azul (Blue House), the house where the two artists once lived together and which now functions as The Frida Kahlo Museum. A special press conference has been arranged for June 27th, where a list of the exact items found will be revealed.

Frida Kahlo sought to sweep away the cobwebs of the old world, and perhaps the major exhibit at Mexico’s Palacio de Bellas Artes will shed some much needed light on that reality.

Chicano Artists Need Not Apply

The Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Long Beach, California, is celebrating its grand reopening with a month long series of events that focus on Latino culture. Agustin Gurza of the Los Angeles Times wrote about the new MOLAA in his article, Latin American Art museum reopens with new look, attitude, but regrettably Gurza’s revealing dialog with MOLAA’s executive director Gregorio Luke, divulges not a new attitude - but the same old one. The Latin American Art museum still maintains a protracted refusal to exhibit or otherwise collaborate with Chicano/Mexican American artists.

Mr. Gurza’s article is peppered with accolades for MOLAA and Luke, who was the former cultural attaché for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C. Gurza writes: "You could call MOLAA the little museum that could, totally upstaging the massive metropolis to the north. It's almost a scandal that L.A. has no comparable Latino-themed museum — not yet anyway." The unnamed institution Gurza refers to is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), which has had an abysmal track record when it comes to exhibiting works by Chicano/Latino artists - but to say it’s "almost a scandal" that L.A.’s galleries and museums ignore Chicano/Latino artists is the understatement of the year.

Having long been intimately involved with L.A.’s Chicano art circles, I can personally attest to the hurt, confusion, feelings of dejection, indignation and outright anger expressed by Mexican American artists over MOLAA’s unshakable insistence on exclusively showing only Latino artists from south of the U.S.-Mexican border - as if Latino artists born within the borders of the U.S. were completely invisible and irrelevant. It is one thing to have mainstream cultural institutions in the U.S. ignore the indigenous Chicano arts movement and artists of Latin American heritage - but it is quite another to be totally disregarded by an institution claiming to speak for Latin American artists.

MOLAA’s unjustifiable stance is a slap in the face to the many talented Chicano and Latino artists who for decades have struggled within the United States to maintain and expand a distinctive cultural heritage and set of unique aesthetics. The Chicano school of art for one, is well established and recognized internationally, and it’s high time for MOLAA to acknowledge the movement as having a well deserved place in the wider family of Latin American artists.

In a March 25th, 2007 article for the New York Times titled, The Art’s Here, Where’s the Crowd?, Edward Wyatt examined Los Angeles as "the nation’s second art capital," and he scrutinized the big players who pull the strings, particularly Eli Broad and his backing of LACMA:

"Mr. Broad (whose name rhymes with road) has generated a fair amount of resentment in some corners here for his outsized presence on the art scene. His devotion to the downtown projects have been criticized as ignoring pockets of the city that have less access to the arts, like the largely Hispanic sections of East Los Angeles and the areas south of downtown that have large African-American populations."

It is no exaggeration to say that Chicano and Latino artists have come to expect being overlooked by the likes of Broad, LACMA - and now MOLAA. But the cultural gulf widened significantly when news spread that the new Museo Alameda Smithsonian (or MAS, "More" in Spanish) officially opened its doors on April 12th, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas. The question arises - If there is a mainstream museum dedicated to Chicano/Latino art in Texas, why is there no similar arts institution in California with its enormous Chicano/Latino population and vibrant Chicano/Latino arts community?

Gurza’s L.A. Times article quotes Gregorio Luke as saying: "I used to think only in terms of Mexico and Mexican culture, but for me, these years at MOLAA have suddenly made me appreciate the art of Peru and Ecuador, the music of Brazil, the pupusas of El Salvador and the mate of Argentina. I think the museum is going to be able to inspire this expanded sense of identity for everybody that comes to it." But the MOLAA director’s alleged "vision of a pan-Latin American culture that crosses national boundaries" inexplicably stops short of embracing those Latinos who happen to live within the United States. Gregorio Luke takes the deplorable posture of extending consideration to Mexican artists, while absolutely denying any attention to their gifted Mexican American counterparts.

Gurza’s article makes a single oblique remark concerning MOLAA’s graceless and blinkered policy, "One important element is missing from the artistic mission of MOLAA - the art made in its own backyard." As long as that observation remains true, the Museum of Latin American Art will remain a stunted and unfulfilled institution in contention with America’s Latino population.

Artwork: Latina Activists across Borders

My large pastel drawing, She Who Wears Bells On Her Cheeks, has been published as the book cover for Milagros Peña’s, Latina Activists across Borders: Women's Grassroots Organizing in Mexico and Texas. In September of 2006 Ms. Peña’s publisher, Duke University Press, contacted me with an offer to publish my drawing. Apparently Peña had seen my artwork and thought it would make an appropriate cover for her examination of grassroots organizing conducted by Latinas on both sides of the U.S., Mexico border.

[ She Who Wears Bells On Her Cheeks. - Mark Vallen 1993. Chalk pastel on paper. Click here for a larger image. Used as cover artwork for Milagros Peña’s book, Latina Activists across Borders: Women's Grassroots Organizing in Mexico and Texas. ]

After the publishing house representative explained that Peña’s book would be a progressive, sociological analysis of border region women confronting issues of sexism, labor exploitation and domestic violence - I agreed to have my art associated with the project. I have no interest in doing commercial illustration for just any client, but on occasion a prospect will come along that dovetails with my own worldview - such is the case with Ms. Peña’s book. The Aztec Goddess of the Moon was named 'She who wears bells on her Cheeks' (Coayolquaxi.) My life-sized chalk portrait of an anonymous Chicana, portrays my subject holding a printed reproduction of the Moon Goddess.

Author and professor, Alberto López Pulido, said this of Ms. Peña’s Latina Activists across Borders: "Through powerful narratives and context, Milagros Peña finds a common and collective voice for Mexican, Mexican American, and Latina women. This work is groundbreaking because it provides a new vista by which to understand and assess the local and the global women's movements from a feminist perspective. Peña tells a story that has never been told and tells it very well." Mr. Pulido expressed precisely why I’m so pleased to have my artwork associated with this book.

No Human Being Is Illegal

The Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) in Los Angeles has included my 1988 poster, No Human Being Is Illegal - Ningun ser Humano es Ilegal, in their traveling poster exhibit, No Human Being is Illegal! - Posters of the Myths and Realities of the Immigrant Experience.

[ No Human Being is Illegal - Vallen 1988 ©. This artwork was originally created as a pencil drawing. The image was then reproduced as a bilingual street poster bearing the title of the work in English and Spanish (the version on display in the CSPG exhibit.) Thousands of these posters were posted on the street and distributed for free over the years. Eventually, a limited edition suite of signed and numbered etchings were created. A few of these are still available for purchase - you can view them here. ]

Currently on display at Self-Help Graphics & Art in East Los Angeles through February 17th, 2007, the exhibit premiered in 1988 as one of the first exhibitions produced by the center. The show was a graphic response to the escalating deportations of Central Americans, and has since been updated a number of times. From the show’s press release:

Much has happened since the exhibit was last put on display in Washington, D.C. on September 8, 2001 - notably September 11th, the Iraq War, and the Patriot Act. While these events profoundly affect all of us, immigrants are the most vulnerable to the resulting rise in repression, racism and discrimination. Fortunately, many are fighting back, and as always, posters are central to educational and organizing efforts. The current version of No Human Being Is Illegal! includes posters made for the 2006 immigrant rights demonstrations - the largest demonstrations in the history of the United States. These posters are not just "Made in America." Immigration is a volatile topic around the world, and although the majority shown here are made in the U.S., this exhibition includes posters from Argentina, Australia, Cuba, France, Germany, Greece, and Mexico."

The exhibit is funded in part by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Los Angeles. The Executive Director of CSPG, Carol A. Wells, will give a guided tour of the show held on February 17th, 2007, at 11 a.m. To RSVP, please call CSPG at 323 653-4662. The exhibit will be on display until February 18th, 2007. Self-Help Graphics & Art (map) is located at 3802 Cesar Chavez Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90063. Hours for the gallery are: Tuesday - Friday 10 - 5p.m., Saturday 10 - 3 p.m.

Xican@ Demiurge: Chicano Art Today?

Xican@ Demiurge: An Immediate Survey at L.A.’s downtown Pharmaka Art gallery, is the latest examination of Chicano art to grace the L.A. art scene. I viewed the works of the twenty-one artists in the exhibit, which according to the organizers of the show are referred to as "Los In-betweens", both for their standing in-between cultures and for evading the clichés of their chosen genre. Curated by Richard Duardo, Francesco X. Siqueiros and Armando H. Torres, the raison d'être of the exhibit is to "reposition 'Xicanism@' as a viable genre in which any artist influenced by our community can participate".

Instead of commenting on the artistic merits of individual artists participating in the show, I’ve decided to critique the exhibit as a whole, it is after all a collective statement billed as a survey, and my assessment can also be read as an evaluation of the current state of Chicano art and its possible directions. For those expecting to find powerful, evocative images that expand and deepen the legacy of Chicano art as an activist oriented art form, Xican@ Demiurge is likely to disappoint. While the works largely adhere to the tradition of Chicano art as a bulwark for figurative realism, the stance of the show is decidedly postmodernist - offering little in the way of narrative, history or direction.

For those familiar with Chicano art - please bear with me. Since this web log has an international audience, I feel the need to reveal the obscure and esoteric secrets of the "Xican@" chronicles so that readers new to these histories can better appreciate what I’m going to say about Xican@ Demiurge. Historically, the Mexican American population in the western states of the U.S. endured the pains of a suffocating discrimination. In the mid-1960s, they rose to claim equality with the larger society, a struggle that entailed the right of self-identification - leading to the use of the term, "Chicano." As a cultural identity and signifier of ethnic pride, "Chicano" is today more or less accepted by the mainstream, though the term is still evolving. Currently a number of Chicanos spell the word with an "X", connecting their identity to ancient indigenous roots - in the Nahuatl language, the Aztecs called themselves Mexica (pronounced: meh-Shee-ka). Also, the gendered structure of the Spanish language has been rejected by some, who favor the written plural forms "Chicano/a" or "Chican@".

Now that those basic facts have been made somewhat clear, allow me to open another can of worms - exactly what is Chicano art and how shall it be defined? Xican@ Demiurge attempts to form a definition, but as a survey it is stilted and woefully incomplete, in part because it’s extremely difficult to present the totality of Chicano aesthetics with a single exhibit. Chicano art necessarily arose from the tumultuous 60’s as a combative aesthetic in opposition to a system of racial, cultural, and political oppression - a cultural renaissance that took place concurrently with the Mexican American community’s political awakening. The California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives of the University of Santa Barbara, California (CEMA), describes the aesthetic in the following manner: "Chicano art is a public and political art, proclaiming and expressing public and social concerns in its themes and subjects." That is not a description I’m inclined to argue against, though in all fairness it is one in need of further elaboration.

In their curatorial statement, the organizers of Xican@ Demiurge wrote: "Art that is innovative and aggressive in its approach is critical to developing a contemporary aesthetic that is representative of the 21st Century Xican@ artist. The cultural climate influencing this particular group today is not the same as the one that triggered 'El Movimiento Chicano' of the 1960’s."

I’m left wondering how the art presented in this exhibit could be considered "aggressive in its approach", unless the direction is one of insistent self-absorption, political retreat and apathy. The curators of Xican@ Demiurge take pains to point out that conditions currently facing Chicanos are not those of the 60s, which is true enough - but this seems an excuse not to address current realities more than anything else. Of the twenty-one artists in the exhibit, only one displayed a work addressing an overt political issue - and that attempt was not very engaging. The show nearly exists in a vacuum, as if one million Latinos did not march in the streets of Los Angeles to protest repressive immigration laws on May 1st, 2006, or that Latinos in the U.S. armed forces are not being wounded and killed in huge numbers in the pointless occupation of Iraq. The powerful tradition of Chicano art as an irrepressible force for social justice is almost nowhere to be found in this exhibit.

[ Announcement card for Xican@ Demiurge. The closest the exhibit came to political commentary was the use of the anarchist circled "A" symbol in the show’s promotional material. Since examples of anarchist philosophy and politics were completely absent in the exhibit, the use of the international anarchist symbol was utterly meaningless - a cheap contrivance no doubt meant to denote "hipness" and "cutting edge" status. ]

Historically Chicano Art - or Chicanarte - has served as the basic building blocks of a people’s self-esteem. It has exhorted the Mexican American community to stand, take pride in itself, and to resist the forces of subjugation. The earliest expressions of Chicano art were in support of the United Farm Worker’s Union and their leader César Chávez, as the battle to bring decent working conditions to California’s agricultural workers raged in the mid-60s, but artworks soon addressed other concerns - from cultural identity and immigration, to poverty and the Vietnam war. Chicanarte was - and remains - community based and tied to the culture, folk traditions and histories of people on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. Over the years Chicano art has become nuanced, accepting a multiplicity of styles and interests without becoming diluted, it has embraced performance, installation, and conceptual forms without abandoning its essence. But the works in Xican@ Demiurge are ripped from any traditional moorings, they float freely as a hodge-podge informed by minimalism, low brow, hip-hop and yawning personal introspection.

It is certainly true that we are not living in the 1960’s, but I fear the curator’s statement represents a depoliticalization of Chicano art, which up to this point has persisted as a genre known for social engagement and activism. I’m not arguing here that Chicano art is nothing more than the artistic expression of social concerns, or that Chicano artists must be yoked with continually producing political imagery, far from it. It’s my firm conviction that every artist must be free to explore and create without constraint, but at the same time the legacy of Chicano art cannot be ignored. One could say that Chicanarte is nothing more than art created by Chicanos - but it has always been so much more than that. To remain viable it must remain true to its history, otherwise, why continue to create works under its banner?

The word "demiurge" has as its root, the Greek "demiurgus", meaning quite literally an "artisan in the service of the people." The word can also refer to an autonomous and powerful creative force. But the artworks in Xican@ Demiurge seem out of synch with these definitions, and so it’s difficult to imagine them representing an independent force, let alone one that is in the service of the people.

An Unusual Day of the Dead Art Exhibit

Spirit of the Children is an unusual art exhibit at L.A.’s celebrated Ave 50 Studio. Timed to kick-off the city’s Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead celebrations, the exhibition features artists that have created works in homage to children "who have died an untimely death due to preventable disease, gang warfare, abuse and war." Kathy Mas-Gallegos, the director of Ave 50 Studio, asked me to create a painting especially for the exhibit, so I produced a small oil I've titled, War Child - a piece memorializing the children who have been slain in warfare. I'm pleased to have my painting shown alongside artworks by Edith and Rob Abeyta, Roberto Delgado, Kathi Flood, Clement Hanami, David Andres Kietzman, Betsy Lohrer Hall, Ricardo Munoz, and John Paul Thornton.

[ War Child - Mark Vallen, 2006 oil on masonite. 8" x 10". On view at Ave 50's, Day of the Dead exhibit. ]

Those expecting a quintessentially traditional Día de los Muertos exhibition are in for a few surprises. I say this because the show contains art of an international theme - with some works created by non-Chicano artists. Japanese American artist Clement Hanami is currently the Art Director of L.A.’s Japanese American National Museum, and a Commissioner on L.A.’s Cultural Affairs Commission. His mother is a hibakusha (atom bomb survivor), and his works often explore the topic of atomic war and its aftermath. Hanami will be presenting a special work at Ave 50 that commemorates those young people who died in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some might be surprised at the inclusion of John Paul Thornton in a Day of the Dead exhibit, but after examining his Missing Children paintings, his participation seems almost obligatory. Over the years, Thornton has produced hundreds of expressionist oil paintings based upon the photos of missing children found on the flyers and mailers that end up in our mailboxes.

The full title of the Ave 50 exhibit is actually, Miccailhuitontli - Spirit of the Children. In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, Miccailhuitontli (Meek-Hail-We-Tontly), or "Little Feast of the Dead" - was the name of the month the Aztecs devoted to the celebration of death and departed ancestors. The month was lorded over by Mictecacihuatl, the Goddess of Death and the Queen of the Underworld. The observances began with remembrances for departed children and ended with commemorations for deceased adults. After the Spanish conquest of 1519-1521, these Aztec traditions and rituals evolved into today’s modern Día de los Muertos celebrations.

The Opening Reception for Miccailhuitontli - Spirit of the Children, takes place on Saturday, October 14, 2006, from 7 to 11 pm. The exhibit will run until November 12th, 2006. Avenue 50 Studio is located in the Highland Park area of L.A., at 131 North Avenue 50, LA., CA 90042. Phone: (323) 258-1435 or visit the gallery website at, www.avenue50studio.com.

Review: "The Art of California Labor"

At Work: The Art of California Labor, opened with a fabulous Artist's Reception on June 17th, 2006. Well over 500 art lovers from all over Southern California and beyond made their way to the event at the historic Pico House Gallery in downtown Los Angeles, located on the founding avenue of the city, Olvera Street. At Work is of course an artistic chronicle of labor in California, and a large part of the evening’s festivities were about celebrating that history - not a dead past, but a living history that continues to evolve and grow. To make its point, the exhibit presents a balance of paintings, prints, and drawings alongside a number of photographic works - with contemporary artworks shown alongside creations from times past.

[ The historic Pico House, a grand venue for the At Work exhibition. ]

A good portion of the artworks in the At Work exhibit are by Latino artists and focus on Mexican American workers, who have undeniably played a major role in the saga of California labor. Their contributions as told through the eyes of artists are well represented in the exhibition; from the varied silkscreen prints celebrating the United Farm Workers, to the latest installation piece by Ricardo Duffy commemorating L.A.’s million person march in support of immigrant worker’s rights.

At the opening I had an opportunity to talk with one of the show’s exhibiting photographer’s, Gil Ortiz. He told me about the photograph he had taken in 1974 of an agricultural worker bent over in back-breaking labor, digging in California’s fields with a short-handled hoe, a tool that caused arthritis of the spine and ruptured spinal disks for those who used it. The New York Times picked up and published Ortiz’s photo for an article about California’s United Farm Workers union. Of his photo, Ortiz said: "In one picture, I sought to capture the inhumanity of 'el cortito', the crippling short-handled hoe that had come to symbolize stoop labor and the cruel exploitation that the farm workers were fighting. My work follows one history in the tradition of documentary photography, that of allowing images to capture the inhumane treatment of human beings, particularly the exploitation of labor for profit."

[ Gil Ortiz's famous photo of an agricultural worker stooped over in the fields ]

The Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times, Paul Conrad, saw Ortiz’s photo and based a cartoon upon the arresting image, giving the photographer full credit for inspiring the drawing. Conrad’s cartoon depicted a farm worker as the victim of a violent crime, showing the laborer lying face down amid cultivated rows of crops - a hoe brutally stuck into his bloodied back like a spear. Ortiz’s photo and Conrad’s cartoon brought attention to the misery of agricultural workers, and finally in the mid-70’s the California Supreme Court banned the use of the tool. I’m continually asked if art makes a difference, if it’s a force capable of changing society, and if it has any power at all outside of itself. I can think of no better example of art’s transformative energy than Gil Ortiz’s photograph - and this exhibit is filled with such images.

[ Viewing historic Chicano posters from the 1970's at the Pico House ]

At Work is not just a consideration of Latino workers and the art created about them, it is after all dedicated to the entire working class in all of its diversity. Some of the strongest artworks in the exhibit were created by those American artists belonging to the social realist school of the 1930’s, when art and social concerns were inextricably linked. There is much to be learned from the social realist artists of the 1930’s, and if just a tiny amount of their idealism, commitment, and vision were to rub off on us we’d all be better off.

Of particular interest to me are the two photographs on display by Dorothea Lange, a personal hero of mine. Her photos are of factory workers leaving their shift, exiting their workplaces en masse, tired looking but also proud, possessing an inner strength that makes them appear implacable. Gazing at the workers in Lange’s photos, looking smart in their work clothes and wearing optimistic faces or grim expressions - I was overwhelmed with empathy, but also struck at how different U.S. workers seem today. Solidarity, my own painting on display in the exhibit, in part addresses that dissimilarity - but globalization, technology, and other changes in the work environment not only continue to place great pressures upon labor, they challenge artists to comprehend and help make clear the evolving situation.

[ Fisherman - Serigraph by Louise Gilbert, 1950 ]

At Work almost serves as a study guide when it comes to introducing artists from the 1930's like Louise Gilbert, Consuelo Kanaga, Fletcher Martin, Emmy Lou Packard, Henrietta Shore, and others who created profound images focusing on workers, the poor, and the disenfranchised. But this part of the exhibition is ironically its weakest point. The traveling exhibit was originally put together by the California Historical Society and the San Francisco State University Art Gallery, and it includes a few digital replicas of historical works that frankly could have been better reproduced. The curators of the Pico House exhibit, Marianna Gatto and Shervin Shahbazi, made up for this flaw by bringing in a number of local and national artists to enhance the core traveling exhibit - an augmentation that makes the show stand out.

On Saturday, July 15th, I’ll be presenting an artist’s panel discussion and slide show at the Pico House Gallery on the history of artist's responses to the issues of labor in California. I’ll be joined by photographers Sheila Pinkel and Slobodan Dimitrov, who have long careers photographing workers on the job and in union organizing activities. A question and answer roundtable with the panelists will follow the lecture. For more information on At Work, including a full listing of participating artists, a schedule of public events, and maps to the Pico House, please visit: www.art-for-a-change.com/exhibits/atwork.htm.

Unpopular Culture: Diane Gamboa

The photographic works of longtime Los Angeles artist Diane Gamboa, are available for viewing on the official KCET website as part of their Unpopular Culture series. Gamboa’s photos focus on L.A.’s punk underground of the late 1970’s - specifically, the role young Chicanos played in the scene as band members and fans. It’s hardly ever mentioned or pointed out, but the Mexican American community of California had much to do with the founding of the state’s original punk scene - something Gamboa’s photos so beautifully illustrate. Bands like The Brat, Plugz, Bags, Stains, Nuns, Los Illegals, and the Zeros broke new ground - bringing fresh rhythms and sensibilities to a scene usually thought of as the turf of disaffected white youth. Back in the late 1970’s, after seeing the likes of the Plugz perform a twisted anarchistic cover version of La Bamba by Ritchie Valens, and witnessing the maniacal stage persona of Bags front woman Alice Bag (Alicia Armendariz) - my life was literally changed forever.

Ironically, after we must have crossed paths a million times as denizens of L.A.’s early apocalyptic punk scene, I only just met Gamboa in late 2005 when we both exhibited artworks at Both Sides of the Border - a major exhibit of Chicano and Latin American art held here in L.A. Along with Gamboa’s photos, the KCET Unpopular Culture webpage sports a solid list of links - including a link to my own Art For A Change website for its documentation of the punk portraits I created as a participant in the 1970’s L.A. punk scene. KCET also supplies links to the websites of Alice Bag, The Plugz and many others, downloadable music by The Brat and Thee Undertakers, and related useful resources.

BOYCOTT Frida Kahlo Tequila!

Turning the Frida Kahlo legacy into a brand name tequila is the final straw when it comes to the "Fridamania" cult promoted by the unscrupulous capitalists the artist railed against her entire life. Isolda P. Kahlo, the niece of the famed Mexican painter and the founder of "The Frida Kahlo Corporation," is marketing Frida Kahlo Tequila, claiming the right to license products using the artist’s name and image. The clear glass bottles of tequila are ornamented with a portrait photo of Kahlo on the label, her image surrounded by garlands of flowers, and a wooden bottle stopper engraved with the artist’s image.

[ Frida Kahlo Tequila - Spirits for the walking dead ]

Art critic and author Raquel Tibol, who befriended Kahlo at the end of the artist’s life, displayed outrage over the painter’s niece exploiting the legacy of Kahlo, "This is a dirty shame! Who gave them permission to use her name? Isolda has gone mad in her desire to make money from her family name. This time she’s stepped over the line, it’s a total lack of respect!" And Tibol’s criticism is well founded. In 1955, just a few years before his death, Diego Rivera established the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, an institution run by the Banco De Mexico. The trust was created to hold the works, possessions, and homes of the two artists as a public treasure. It would appear the trust is the only organization authorized to legally give permission to use Kahlo’s name for commercial purposes, or as Tibol put it, "According to the will of Diego Rivera and the establishment of the Foundation, all profitable use of Frida Kahlo must go to the Foundation."

Author Martha Zamora, who wrote a biography of Kahlo - Frida: El Pincel del la Angustia (Frida: The Brush of Anguish,) agreed that the artist’s name, image, and works should be controlled by the Mexican State as the people’s national treasure; adding that the artist’s legacy should be "treated with care because of its strong ties with Mexican culture." Art historian Teresa del Conde told the Mexican newspaper El Universal, the Frida Kahlo Corporation was guilty of unethical actions, and called for an investigation into the company’s licensing irregularities. Del Conde said, "Frida Kahlo is the central selling point to this product, and if she knew what was going on with her name, poor thing, I imagine that her ashes would burst out of the urn they rest in."

Isolda P. Kahlo and her Frida Kahlo Corporation are marketing lies when they equate Frida’s consumption of tequila with "her love for Mexico, her strength and her passion for life. Tequila, her favorite drink, accompanied her in the greatest moments of her life." The idea of the artist’s alcoholism being somehow romantic could not be further from the truth. It was not a sense of romanticism that led Kahlo to drink a bottle of tequila a day, but the debilitating pain she endured from the accident suffered in her youth. Add to that the grief she experienced with husband Diego, and it’s plain to see that drink was not so much a pleasure for Frida as it was an escape.

[ Painting of Frida Kahlo by Diego Rivera, 1939 ]

Those behind Frida Kahlo Tequila do not possess even a modicum of respect for her legacy, nor do they have the slightest understanding of the artist’s accomplishments and the ideals she stood for. The tequila venture is purely profit driven - art be damned. This should be evident when looking at the photos taken at the launch party for Frida Kahlo Tequila. That social event for culture vultures took place in Los Angeles, California on November 15th, 2005, at the grand estate of Michael Scott. After viewing the photos of the gringolandia gala, could anyone possibly imagine Kahlo tolerating being in the same room with such people for more than a few minutes?

U.S. distribution of Frida Kahlo Tequila will be handled by Southern Wine & Spirits, and the 100% pure blue agave cactus spirit will be sold in fine shops and restaurants. As with other brands of tequila, Frida Kahlo Tequila is offered in three colors and flavors; blanco, reposado and añejo (costing $50, $65 and $90 respectively,) but there is only one real flavor being presented here - that of pitiless exploitation. The proper way to honor the legacy of the revolutionary painter and feminist, is to boycott the tequila that bears her name.

Both Sides of the Border

Announcement card for the Both Sides of the Border exhibit

Both Sides of the Border is a major Los Angeles exhibit of works by Latin American and Chicano artists being organized by Carlotta's Passion Fine Art in Eagle Rock, California. Works by over fifty exceptional artists will be on display - making this one of L.A.’s blockbuster shows. I’m pleased to say that I’ll be showing a number of new paintings at this exhibit. Some of the well known artists in the show representing the Latin American school include, Jean Charlot, Wilfredo Lam, and one of my personal favorites, Francisco Zuniga - whose amazing drawings and lithographs of Mexican Indian peasants I’ve long admired. Fellow L.A. artists in the show representing the Chicano school include, Gronk, Patssi Valdez, Frank Romero, Leo Limon, Diane Gamboa, Gilbert "Magu" Lujan, and many other talented individuals too numerous to list here.

Both Sides of the Border opens with an Artist's Reception on Saturday, November 19th., from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. During the opening a talented duo called MEXIKA will perform indigenous music using traditional instruments. The sounds they produce conjure up memories of the ancient Maya and Aztecs - an audio experience not to be missed. In addition, there will be a number of educational presentations and activities held in conjunction with the exhibit. For a complete listing of events, as well as previews of artworks, click here. On Friday December 16th., starting at 8:00 pm, I’ll be giving a slide lecture on the subject of Chicano identity, aesthetics and activism. The lecture will trace my personal journey as a social realist artist whose works are deeply rooted in the Los Angeles experience.

I’m particularly looking forward to the gallery’s "Meet the Artist" series, where on Saturday, December 17th at 8 pm, I’ll unveil two brand new oil paintings I’m presently working on. The small paintings are sweet, romantic portrait studies of women involved in L.A.’s Chicano/Latino street festivals. I’m quite pleased with how the works are coming along, and I’ll undoubtedly be working on them until their preview.

Both Sides of the Border runs from November 19th, 2005, through January 7th, 2006. Carlotta's Passion Fine Art is located at: 2012 Colorado Blvd., in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California 90041 - the cross street is Maywood (View a MapQuest map.) Business hours are Tuesday through Sunday, from 12:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Phone: 323-259-1563.

Exhibit: Emerging From Aztlán

Starting on October 8th, 2005, I will be exhibiting work at, Emerging From Aztlán, the third annual Chicano art show to be held at the da Center for the Arts in Pomona California. This awe-inspiring exhibit showcases some of the very best Chicano artists from around Southern California and beyond, and offers an exciting amalgam of styles, concepts, and directions. It’s also an amazing opportunity to see the artworks of well established professionals alongside those of up and coming talents. This show is a blockbuster on many levels, and if you think you know what El Arte Chicano is all about - be prepared to have all of your preconceptions sacrificed to Aztec gods. I wrote the following artist’s statement concerning the exhibition:

"From my point of view, Emerging From Aztlán is more than the title of a Chicano art show hosted by the dA Center for the Arts in Pomona. It is a phrase that recognizes, celebrates and authenticates Mexican American art and aesthetics. It is also a proclamation that Chicano artists are expanding well beyond the imaginary boundaries that surround them, to influence the international artistic community. In presenting my artwork at Emerging From Aztlán, I hoped to engage people in an important and long overdue dialog that might begin with the following points - What is Chicano art; How are its aesthetics distinct; Where is it going?

I have submitted to the exhibition a life-sized chalk pastel drawing on paper depicting an anonymous Chicana. She holds an image of the Aztec moon goddess, Coyolxauhqui (or, She Who Wears Bells on Her Cheeks, which is also the title of the artwork.) The goddess was so important to the Aztecs that they placed an enormous stone sculpture of her at the base of their most prominent temple pyramid. The ancient emblem of the goddess has become a ubiquitous cultural icon for contemporary Chicanos and Mexicanos, and so an appropriate image for me to draw. While my artwork addresses the issue of modern cultural identity - it also focuses on the significance of historic memory - interlocking concepts that instill Chicano art with special meaning.

[ Detail of "She Who Wears Bells on Her Cheeks" - Chalk drawing by Vallen.
Click here for a larger view. ]

I view Chicano art as being intrinsically combative in nature. Not in an overt political respect per se; although political militancy was definitely part of early artistic output, but confrontational in the sense that it represents a refusal to the dominant culture of the United States. In that regard, Chicano art has always been a form of resistance. Its role in helping to define a people and community; of furthering the struggle for full civil and human rights; of popularizing myths, traditions and experiences - is far from being over.

Today we face new and daunting challenges, and once again history invites artists to play the part of shamans, prophets and organizers. But while looking towards the future we must never abandon the past, for it is a source of great strength and wisdom. The Aztecs spoke of Aztlán ("The place of the White Heron"), as their mythical point of origin. Once beginning the exodus from their fabled homeland - believed by more than a few to have been located somewhere in the Southwestern area of what is now the United States - the Aztec people wandered for some two hundred years before settling in the valley of Mexico. At this moment in the 21st Century there is a dire need for an innovative and contentious Chicano Art movement, and as we continue on our modern day quest for empowerment, enhanced self-esteem and social justice - we shall find it as we come Emerging From Aztlán."

Emerging From Aztlán runs from October 8th, 2005 to November 20th, 2005. Patrons are invited to a special sneak preview Artist’s Reception on Saturday October 8th, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, where serious collectors can meet the artists and have the first opportunity to acquire artworks. Music and refreshments are also part of the event. Tickets are available for $20 each (Phone: 909-397-9716.) The general public is invited to two free Artist’s Receptions - Saturday October 8th and Saturday November 12th, 2005 - both held from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The da Center for the Arts is located at: 252-D South Main Street, Pomona California 91766-1630. For more information, visit their website, at: www.dacenter.org

Guillermo Gómez-Peña at LACMA

On April 29th, 2005, performance artist and writer, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, staged an interactive live performance/installation work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Titled Panetnica: A pavilion of X-treme Identities, the work was a collaboration between Gómez-Peña and La Pocha Nostra - Colombian dancer, Michelle Cebal, and Mexico City performance artist, Violeta Luna. In a press release, Gómez-Peña said the trio would create "living dioramas depicting California's current obsessions about race. The performance artists will occupy a gallery space throughout the piece, interacting with audience members, and constructing tableaux vivants of 'interracial couples' with audience members." Gómez-Peña and La Pocha Nostra apparently delivered what they promised, delighting or repulsing hundreds of people who wandered into LACMA's Anderson Building, where the performance took place from 6 to 10:00 pm.

I was not able to be present at the performance, but my associate, Chicana photographer and new media artist, Sandra de la Loza, attended and described it as a "happening" where audience members were encouraged to become part of the performance. Loza, who took the photos that accompany this article, made clear to me that the evening was an extraordinary night of high energy political/cultural performance, where the lines between artists and audience were completely blurred. Issues of national and racial identity, imperialism and sexuality became focal points in the performance, and LACMA was transformed into a world stage where Zapatistas, Aztec warriors, and barrio gang bangers mixed it up with shamanic draq queens, apocalyptic home girls, and a demented heroin shooting Frida Kahlo. After exposure to the mind-bending and stupefying mutations offered by Gómez-Peña and company, I’m sure those leaving the happening became confused when they suddenly realized the streets of Los Angeles and its denizens were just an extension of the performance. But then, that’s the purpose of art… to lift the veil that blinds us.

Aztec Art - Roots of Modernism

I’ve been studying Aztec art for decades. Many artists active in or familiar with the Chicano arts movement of America’s Southwestern states have appreciated the blunt figurative style and bold colors of the Aztecs. As African art influenced European artists to establish cubism, so too has Aztec art given inspiration to Chicano painters and print makers from the late 60’s to the present. Currently artists and art enthusiasts around the world are discovering the staggering grandeur created by the indigenous of Mexico over 500 years ago. In 2002, the Royal Academy of Arts in Great Britain presented Aztecs, an exhibition of art and artifacts visited by over 465,000 people, making it one of the most popular exhibits in the Academy’s history. Now the Guggenheim Museum in New York Ciy presents, The Aztec Empire, a major exhibition running until February 13th, 2005. With over 435 works in stone, ceramic and precious metals from private and public collections, the show is an essential look at the art and culture of the Aztecs. Guggenheim Museum director Thomas Krens felt it important "to visit past cultures in which modern art has its roots in order to examine the context from which today's art has emerged." Beautifully stated... and a remark not to be overlooked. Working artists everywhere should study and embrace the overwhelming aesthetic accomplishments of Mexico’s original inhabitants. The Guggenheim maintains a terrific website for The Aztec Empire exhibition.