The Evolution of La Virgen de Guadalupe in Chicano Art Essay examples

The portrayal and the representation of the Chicano Art Movements are entrenched by the Mexican-American artist who institute artistic personalities and identities in the United States. The plenteous amount of the artist is massively influenced by the immense Chicano Movement (El Movimiento) which, was established in the 1960’s. The influence of Chicano Art was due to the Mexican- Revolution philosophy, art of Pre-Columbia and indubitably European techniques of painting, cultural, social, political issues. The movement took a stand to fight against stereotypes of Mexican- Americans conducive and to resist typical social norms. The movement to concentrate on awareness of collective history, equal opportunity, grants and social mobility. Chicanos have used the movement in pursuit of expressing their cultural values. Ever since it first appeared in America the art of Chicanos has matured to illustrate common struggle and social issues in conjunction with uniting the youth of the Chicano people to their culture and history. Chicano Art is not only Mexican- American artwork; it further emphasizes and accentuates the histories of the Chicano people in a superb and sublime way of American art.

The mythical rewrite is necessary to the demands of rewriting ideological and cultural norms that manage the theoretical framework. In Chicana/o culture three female shapes, La Malinche, La Llorona, and La Virgen de Gudalupe, separate the cultural borders of female behavior. Gloria Anzaldua proclaims in the Borderlands/La Frontera,

During the 1960’s, the Civil Rights Movement wasn’t the only one occurring. Struggling to assimilate into American culture, and suppressed by social injustices convicted by their Anglo counterparts, the Chicano movement was born. In the epic poem “I am Joaquin” written by Rodolfo Gonzales in 1969, we dive into what it means to be a Chicano. Through this poem, we see the struggles of the Chicano people portrayed by the narrator, in an attempt to grasp the American’s attention during the time of these movements. Hoping to shed light on the issues and struggles the Chicano population faced, Gonzales writes this epic in an attempt to strengthen the movement taking place, and to give Chicanos a sense of belonging and solidarity in this now

Her paintings represented “the cultural nationalism of [Mexico]” (Meadows). She had a strong artistic style in which she showed her Mexican patriotism and her communist ideals. In addition, she also made political statements on the U.S. and the industrialization.

The Lady of Guadalupe is a huge part of the Mexican tradition, and how many people look up to her in a very godly way. She is important, because she reminds people of their appreciation for their own cultures, along with the other cultures that are all over the world. The Lady of Guadalupe is someone that is the exact replica of the Virgin Mary. But, the only difference is, is that the Virgin Mary is a saint that is represented in the European culture, and the Lady of Guadalupe in the Aztec and Native culture of Mexico. The lady of Guadalupe is a positive influence on different religions, especially Christianity.

The Chicano art movement rose during the civil rights era was based on three goals that included restoral of land, education reforms rights for farm workers. The three goals followed by the Chicano Art artists had long been coming. One of the first goals included rights for farm workers. Arguably, the Mexicans Americans fight to secure unionization for the farm workers was one of the key goals of the Chicano art. In order to Sway the grape farmers, Cesar Chavez launched a national boycott that aimed at the American Farm

The quote above is perhaps the best encapsulation of the spirit of Frida Kahlo, the 20th century Mexican revolutionary painter who is often regarded as a Surrealist. Julie Taymor’s 2002 Oscar-winning film Frida, charts the artist’s fascinatingly tumultuous life, and provides much needed insight into many of Kahlo’s most famous works. The film features an all-star cast, with Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina as its two leads. Yet far beyond simply providing clarification, the film also allows us to carve out a theme of both Kahlo’s life and the historical context of the film: art as politician.

After the Mexican Revolution, which took place from 1910 - 1920, Mexican art saw a change in the type of art being created. Although the focus of creating art with an indigenous and Mexican theme continued, the country saw a shift to art presenting socialist ideals. The government saw value in working with local artist and commissioning them to create murals that would influence their political agendas. However, what these murals mostly did was strengthen the Mexican culture and bring pride to the indigenous heritage. Although this time period has come and gone, its influence over Mexican art and culture is still very apparent today and can even be seen in Mexican American communities today.

country of Mexico showcasing what Mexico has to offer. Showing how the art of the ancient people are expressed. Being taken over by the Spanish colonial towns are seen in Mexico’s capital Mexico City. Located in Mexico City a lot can be find influencing their art, shops, renowned museums and very good tasty restaurants to modern life, as well showing their ancient art of the ancient civilizations, and ancient culture. The earliest real civilization in Mexico was the Olmec culture which came from of the Gulf Coast from around 1500 BCE.

In 1959, the Vietnam War severed to prove that not only had the Mexican American generation had failed to accomplish equality for Mexicans, but also failed to get the Anglos to view the actions in 1836 as an injustice as they began to parallel the expansion in their takeover of the Vietnamese. As a result of this failure, a new generation of Mexican activists, Chicanos, decided to take a new approach towards striving for equality; one that was based on achieving political justice for their own unique culture hoping Anglos would be forced to recognize their equal citizenship and that of other minorities. Yet despite these noble implications, many insisted that the fight for racial equality took precedence over that of gender. Thus, feeling

Murals are the quintessential public art embodying the spirit of the community in which they are created. They say this is who we are, this is what we think, this is where we come from, and this is what we want, reflecting most clearly any changes in the sociopolitical environment. Murals lay out a powerful visual image of the ideology of their creators or sponsors, be it the Church during the Renaissance, government funded projects, or individuals expressing opposition. In Mexico, after the Mexican Revolution of 1917, the government commissioned a vast number of mural projects to transmit its revisionist history of the country, and celebrate the empowerment of the underclass in their recent victory. Predominate themes were cultural

On Sundays after Mass- every single Sunday, Latinos gathered on parks to play soccer and have carne asada something that is very traditional in Mexican families my family could be an example of that. These parks were built with the money taken from the Japanese which speaking of now a day’s use these complexes too and this is where the two cultures met.

It shows the struggle and emotions of the Chicanos. Some of the murals like the mural of Mexican history and an unknown really shows all the aspect of their history. It shows the natives, women, men, revolutionaries and the major figures in Mexican history. The home page shows a drawing that represents the mixture of race which makes up the Chicano identity, the Native, Spaniard, and mestizo. This is a very visual history and one can pick some of the emotions and struggle through the paintings but one needs to understand the written history in order to appreciate it better because it makes it easier to identify especially with the major figures. Michelle Rosado makes an interesting point about the murals in the Chicano web site, when she mentions that "one may think that this is the history of all Mexican-Americans, but it is not. The effect of certain events that occurred in Mexican-American history on this community and California, such as the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and the Chicano Moratorium march against the Vietnam war, is addressed. The major outcome of these events emphasized by the web site is the influence it had on art in the Mexican-American culture. However, the history and other effects on all Mexican-Americans throughout the United states is not discussed". I agre with Michelle Rosado that "similar to the web site it [the documentary] does not talk about the very beggining of the Mexican-American

Hispanic art, food, and entertainment all have a common theme; they are all fun, light-hearted, yet fulfilling and rich in cultural heritage. On one side, Mexican culture in particular loves to make fun of itself. There are many depictions in song and art of lazy Mexicans in large sombreros with thick mustaches eating burritos. On the other hand artists like Diego Rivera paint large murals depicting rich historical events like the revolution, in bold colors on controversial topics (This Old, n.d.).

La Causa, or “The Cause” of this movement, began as farm worker strikes in California and Southwest region. (Montejano, 10) Farmworkers demanded fair wages and suitable working conditions, but they also faced inequality outside of the workplace. Inspired by Cesar Chavez, young Chicanos in San Antonio began to form organizations that would challenge the injustice and inequality treatment they faced as citizens of the United States. The Civil Rights Movement of African- Americans also impacted and influenced the young generation of the Chicano Movement. They shared one common enemy: the white- elite. Their basic rights as a citizen were being withheld and they organized to fight to retrieve them.