Fowler hosts exhibit of Chicano posters
By Daily Bruin Staff
Sept. 26, 2001 9:00 p.m.
UCLA Fowler Museum The silk screen painting “Sun
Mad” by Ester Hernandez is one of the
provocative pieces of artwork now on display at the UCLA Fowler
Museum of Cultural History.
By Rosanna Mah
Daily Bruin Contributor
Graphic signs and symbols carelessly displayed on telephone
poles, storefronts and in the alleys of urban California have
fortunately survived in today’s art world as symbols of
Chicano history.
“Just Another Poster? Chicano Graphic Arts in
California,” an exhibit at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural
History, chronicles a history of how Chicano artists have used the
medium of the poster as the primary tool of public discourse since
the mid-1960s.
Viewers are invited to experience this bi-cultural exhibit,
presenting a kaleidoscope of more than 100 graphic works by 56
artists, including Lalo Alcaraz, Chaz Bojórquez, Rupert
Garcia, Louie “The Foot” González, Ester
Hernández and Alma López.
“The Chicano artists here are not trying to reach for
identity. Who am I? What am I doing here? It is not about
that,” said Isabel Castro-Melendez, academic and community
program officer from the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center,
which co-sponsors the exhibit.
Instead, the exhibit is about the expression and celebration of
Chicano identity, culture and history.
According to Castro-Melendez, in the world of Chicano politics,
the poster serves as an effective tool for cultural expression,
often inspiring artists to use the medium to reflect political and
social concerns of the disenfranchised Chicano community.
“From 1965 to 1980, art was used as a weapon of
change,” said Richard Duardo, one of the artists featured at
the exhibit. “Artists employed their creative skills and
abilities to create a visual language in order to deal with
problematic societal issues.”
Chicano posters allow for the creation of an alternative public
sphere for Chicano affirmation.
Whether it is to challenge U.S. immigration policies, demand an
end to apartheid in South Africa, advocate for women’s
liberation or to align with international liberation movements, the
voice of the Chicano people is heard and their outrage felt through
the bold and imaginative poster medium.
The first half of this exhibit focuses on a political period
(1960s to late 1970s) rooted in Chicano struggles for cultural
recognition and human rights issues.
Many of the arts posters displayed are forms of commercial
propaganda, advertising community events that range from theatrical
productions to local art exhibitions.
However, others are used to promote solidarity with
international and local liberation movements, calling out to all
Chicanos in the fight against oppression and for decent civil
liberties.
Even after the late ’70s, Chicano poster art remains as an
imperative agent of social change. However, the need for the
collective no longer supercedes the personal impulse of the
artist.
The second half of the exhibition contains graphic pieces that
start to develop expression and become more intimate and personal,
even as the agenda remains strongly political.
In the latter half of the exhibit, unsuspecting visitors are
greeted with a room filled with dazzling images of pachucos, cholos
and punks.
This particular avant-garde section of the exhibit vividly
demonstrates how alternative youth cultures and styles proliferated
into Chicano graphic arts.
The iconography of “the punk” in Chicano art prints
in Richard Duardo’s “Zero Zero” (1981) and Diane
Gamboa’s “Little Gold Man” (1990) portrays
individualization and hyper-visibility, emblematic of the new
Chicano identity.
“The punk scene during the ’70s, for me, was a great
platform for exploring boundless possibilities of a new social
order,” Duardo said.
Other sections of the exhibit include the commemoration of
certain Chicano traditions such as “DÃa de los
Muertos” also known as the “Day of the Dead.”
Indeed, the range of themes and styles found in this poster
exhibit is amazingly diverse.
“Although this exhibit does not capture all political
thought, it does reflect different kinds of politics,” said
Tomas Benitez, executive director of “Self Help
Graphics.” “I am very happy with the show, I
thought that it was excellent.”Â
“However, we must not forget that this exhibition is
essentially history captured, and as artists, we must not be
content with just that,” Benitez added. “Remember,
the mandate is to appreciate, not simply to reproduce.”
Chicano artists are connected by a shared legacy. Through the
Cuban posters, the political influence of the three great Chicano
muralists and this exhibit, lies a legacy for the generation of
future artists.
MUSEUM: “Just Another Poster? Chicano
Graphic Arts in California” is featured at UCLA’s
Fowler Museum through Dec. 9. The exhibit is open 12-5 p.m.
Wednesday through Sunday and 12-8 p.m. on Thursday. Entry is $5 for
adults and $1 for UCLA students. A gallery walk-through will be led
by artist José Montoya on Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. and a dialogue with
scholars and artists will be held at the museum on Oct. 20, 1-5
p.m. For more information call (310) 825-4361.
