Chicano Art – Exploring the World of Mexican American Art

The El Movimiento movement of the 1960s was one of the most influential art movements in the United States that became the pillar of the Chicano art movement. Fueled by Mexican-American culture and ideas around post-revolution Mexican art, Chicano art remains a powerful movement that seeks to establish a collective autonomous identity and challenge existing stereotypes. In this article, we will introduce you to the Chicano movement, as well as some of the most influential Mexican-American artists and Chicano muralists, and discussions about the movement. Keep reading for more about this powerful movement!

The Origins of Chicano Art

You may be familiar with Mexican-American culture as one of the most well-known and previously underrepresented cultures in the United States. In light of the many socio-political issues that emerged during the countless struggles for equality in Southwestern America, Mexican-American artists from around the United States took a stand in the 1960s and established the Chicano movement. The basis of the movement was founded on the desire to effect change through the art movement by giving a voice to underrepresented issues faced by the Mexican-American communities of 20^th-century America.

Following the Second World War, many Mexican-American communities struggled with the discrimination of servicemen who upon returning from their posts, would be faced with issues of racial segregation, discrimination, and other unfair acts due to their race. Further issues were raised once the US government procured the land belonging to Mexican communities and had to fight for their communal land grants. Needless to say, the Chicano movement was perhaps more than just an art movement. It was a movement that extended well into the Mexican-American community and spawned from years of societal injustice. The Chicano movement was a necessity.

Aims of the Chicano Art Movement

The movement was therefore a form of activism against specific social injustices in Mexican-American cultures. A few key issues that the movement intended to highlight include police brutality, the lack of social services made available to Mexican Americans, civil rights violations, the Vietnam war, and many other issues that pointed to the distinct inequality in the treatment of Mexican-American people. The consensus for the aims of the movement was rooted in identifying and raising the concerns of Mexican-American citizens of all ages.

Artists of the movement would incorporate key symbols to address these specific issues in their artwork while forming many collectives to provide a sense of unity to the cause and spread awareness to younger artists.

Popular Themes in Chicano Art

The key aims of the movement as mentioned above give us direction to understand the main themes covered in Chicano art over the last two centuries. In Chicano art, drawings and paintings of social and civil issues of the 20th-century were key themes that defined the movement. Communal land grants were one such societal issue that became a key theme and caused many Chicano artists to stand behind them. Other concepts that Chicano art explores include geography, displacement, and immigration issues, which are more than just concepts. These themes were founded on the daily reality of many Mexican-Americans and indigenous cultures of the Southwest territory who have unfortunately had to face many human rights violations. The exploitation of labor is another common theme addressed in Chicano art that tackles the often-undocumented realities of Mexican immigrants and service workers across the agricultural and domestic service industries who also face social injustices.

Making a statement, Mission District San Francisco (2010) by unknown artist; Ed Bierman, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In Chicano art, drawings and public street artworks featured themes related to the lifestyle and personal experience of an artist living in Latino or Spanish-speaking communities called “barrios” and usually carries long-standing histories of social neglect. Barrio lands are commonly associated with specific allocated sites in California claimed by Chicano communities. Certain communities in the United States were subject to historical societal neglect by the leading politicians of the time, resulting in years of neglect of Mexican-American communities and Chicano artists.

The militarization of the Mexican-US border is also a key theme featured in many Chicano artworks that create room for symbols such as the barbed wire as a metaphor for the harsh experiences faced by Chicano people and the duality of their experience in America as citizens who have been historically neglected while facing the duality of embracing two cultures.

The emergence of Rasquachismo was also a major development in Chicano art that involved creating artworks and installations with everyday items and available resources in the environment or community, which would then become a reflection of the society’s political or socio-economic state.

In Latin America and Mexico, the term “rasquachismo” is used derogatively as a classist slur, but through Chicano art, the term has been repurposed as a form of defiance against the challenges of professional and material limitations that Chicano artists face. The principle behind Rasquachismo in Chicano art is to create more from less through spontaneity. Most artists who practice the art form incorporate everyday fragments of their reality and when practiced by femme-identifying artists, the genre changes to Domesticana. The premise for the genre of making more from less is first identified through an attitude of making as opposed to it being a formal art quality.

Key Symbols in Chicano Art

Among the most famous symbols in Chicano art is the eagle flag of the United Farm Workers, which was also adopted by La Raza. Other key symbols include Aztlán, which was the ancestral land of the Aztec civilization, the black eagle, pre-Columbian symbols, lowrider cars, and the figure of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Cultural imagery from important holidays such as the Day of the Dead also features in Chicano art and includes other traditional practices such as private altars, marigold flowers, sugar skulls, and people honoring their dead loved ones with gifts. Chicano artists who focus on Mesoamerican histories also highlight their unique cultural heritage by including indigenous Mesoamerican imagery in their artworks.

The region of Aztlán for example represents Chicano artists’ expression of cultural nationalism and speaks to the historical deterritorialization experienced by many indigenous cultures following the Mexican-American war and the Spanish invasion. The long history of cultural displacement and reclamation of heritage are among the primary intentions behind the artwork that contains Mesoamerican imagery and symbols. Aztec motifs that are also used include designs from temples, famous Gods and deities, and the Quetzalcoatl as affirmations of the civilization.

Chicano Street Art

Graffiti, a popular form of street art, was quickly adopted in the Chicano movement as a tool for expressing themes of defiance and rebellion since it is illegal to vandalize public spaces. Graffiti was seen as an expression that emerged alongside other urban subcultures such as rhyming and 1970s b-boy culture. Graffiti through tagging and texts also became a way for artists to express political opinions and issues faced by Chicano communities related to discrimination, poverty, and a life of struggle when living in a big city. While graffiti art can often be misunderstood and stereotyped as artwork practiced by street gangs, the art form serves more as a tool for resistance and a medium of empowerment for Chicano artists to educate the public.

Public art has been a special art form for communities based in barrios as it is a reminder of the importance and needs for art accessibility and an assertion of identity through open community dialogues.

Chicano Muralism

Chicano muralism was influenced by Mexican muralism, which emerged as a government project after the Mexican Revolution in the 1920s. Mexican muralism was a way of visualizing Mexican history through the past, present, and future and establishing new visual languages in public spaces to commemorate Mexican history. Mural art practiced under the Chicano art movement distinguishes itself from Mexican Muralism and can be identified by its artists as those belonging specifically to Chicano communities while portraying alternative histories in barrios and through other public interventions that are not sponsored by the government.

San Francisco’s Mission District Mural (2018); Fabrice Florin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Chicano muralism can be thought of as a collaborative art form that does not place one artist in the spotlight but rather serves to emphasize its collaborative and harmonious value. This engages artists within local communities and gives back to the community by making the owner of the artwork the community itself. The composition and intention behind murals are thus a collective one that aims to accurately reflect the community.

Many Chicano muralists often include the community in discussions about the mural concept before executing the final artwork so that the community can be heard and the artwork can be “seen” and appreciated.

Sexism in the Chicano Art Movement

The Chicano art movement was initially criticized for its approach to the movement, which saw many male Chicano artists voicing societal concerns from their point of view. The Chicano movement provided room for Chicano women in art to express their concerns, given that not all voices in Feminism of the 20^th century were given an equal podium. Women who were part of the Chicano movement were excluded from the broad Feminist movement due to the lack of representation for Mexican-American, Latino, and Hispanic women. It is also important to note that early Feminism tended to place the spotlight more on the experiences of white women while minority groups were severely underrepresented.

San Francisco’s Mission District Mural (2018); Fabrice Florin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Women artists from minority backgrounds also struggled with being stereotyped within specific Chicano art styles as it was believed and often misconstrued that all Chicano artists are either wall muralists or graffiti artists. Despite mural and street art being dominant mediums through which some Chicano artists explore public art and community issues, it has become a label through which Chicana artists have been stereotyped and displaced from the art community.

Community Cultural Art Centers

The Chicano art movement is one such movement in art history that was very much community-centric. The development of cultural art centers in Mexican-American communities is another feature of the movement that aims to promote the production of art by minority groups and provide alternative resources and support for Chicano art education. These cultural centers also serve to disseminate valuable information to preserve the Chicano movement and encourage communities to unite in growing the accessibility of art while promoting civil activism.

One of the pivotal centers established under the Chicano art movement was the Self-Help Graphics and Art Inc. arts center, which is based in East Los Angeles, California.

The arts center was founded in the 1970s as an incubation institution for promoting the arts of local Chicano artists while enacting social change in a barrio. The center held its first Day of the Dead event in 1974 and has since been a hub for Chicano art exhibitions, silkscreen printmaking, musical, and performative engagements. Community art centers are therefore incredibly important to community upliftment and development of local art talent so that key issues and experiences can be heard.

Famous Chicano Artists and Artworks

Now that you have a detailed overview of the popular themes and history of Chicano art, you can now explore a selection of famous Chicano artists and artworks that showcase the many unique and diverse approaches that Chicano painters and artists have leveraged to create stunning Mexican-American artworks.

Carlos Almaraz (1941 – 1989)

Carlos Almaraz was among the most famous Chicano muralists and artists of the movement whose works capture the early visual language of the Chicano art movement. Almaraz attended the Otis College of Art and Design as well as the University of California, Los Angeles. Almaraz’s practice also included philosophy and poetry, of which many of his literary works were published in 50 books.

After a near-death experience, Almaraz founded the Chicano art collective known as the Los Four, and together with other members such as Judithe Hernández, the collective went on to pioneer Chicano public art throughout the 1980s, which attracted the attention of many formal art institutions.

Almaraz is most famous for his work on the Echo Park series, which was created based on a park he knew of and grew up with. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art also honored Almaraz in 1992 by exhibiting 28 of his Chicano drawings and print-based artworks that were donated by his widow, Elsa Flores, after his passing in 1989.

Elsa (1981)

Elsa is an abstract portrait of Almaraz’s widow Elsa Flores rendered vaguely in an impressionist manner portraying Flores in the nude. Almaraz used subtle tonal differences and shifts in color to render the details of his model. Almaraz also makes Flores a central figure made prominent by the carefree paint marks possibly created by hand.  An aspect that stands out in the painting is Flores’ empty eyes, which makes her figure mimic an automaton standing still. Almaraz finally added signs of life through the bright yellow shades of paint that follow the outlines of Flores’ silhouette and exaggerate her movement. Many of Almaraz’s Chicano paintings reflected influences from the East Los Angeles art culture through expressive colors and gestures in bold hues of pink, purple, and orange.

Artist Carlos Almaraz in his studio, Los Angeles (1989) by Ellen Jaskol; Ellen Jaskol, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Frank Romero (1941 – Present)

Frank Romero is another major Chicano muralist and artist whose works demonstrate iconic Los Angeles and Chicano-inspired iconographies characterized by brilliant palm trees and vivid colors. Romero was raised in the Boyle Height community and later became acquainted with the founder of Los Four, Carlos Almaraz. Romero’s early art career began in graphic design where he worked for Charles and Ray Eames studio and A&M Records.

Later on, he joined the Los Four collective alongside Almaraz, Gilbert Lujan, and Roberto de la Rocha.

Death of Rubén Salazar (1986)

Death of Rubén Salazar is one of Romero’s most famous Chicano paintings, created as a tribute to the death of the civil rights activist and Los Angeles Times’ writer Rubén Salazar. One of the main aims behind the early movement was the protest against the Vietnam war, which occurred in the 1970s when many Chicano activists and artists rallied together in protest, but Salazar was caught in the Los Angeles police attempts to control the protesters with tear gas and died as a result of a canister entering the Silver Dollar Bar where Salazar was killed. Using the same scale as that of Mexican murals, Romero painted Death of Rubén Salazar using many striking colors belonging to the East Los Angeles barrio culture.

In Romero’s surreal recreation of the scene, a movie theater on the far right of the painting displays an announcement stating that La Muerte de Rubén Salazar is on show. The commercial aspects of the Casa de Cambio and the bar where Salazar was killed also point to changes in the community as noted by the exchange of cash. The painting also features lowriders, police officers with guns, and striking clouds of gas from the scene, which serves as a reminder of the event and the significance of the loss of Rubén Salazar for the anti-Vietnam war protest and Chicano culture of East Los Angeles.

Victor Ochoa (1948 – Present)

Having produced over 100 murals across California, Victor Ochoa is one of the most famous Chicano muralists of the late 20^th century whose works have become iconic pieces of the state and the Chicano movement. As an original activist of Chicano Park, Ochoa remains a strong pillar of the San Diego Chicano community and is also an active educator specializing in art and Chicano heritage as well as mural art preservation.

Ochoa as a pioneering figure himself is considered to be a cultural resource to the San Diego Chicano legacy.

Chicano Park Mural Chicano Park Mural View 1 (1973)

Labeled a monumental historical mural, this famous Chicano mural was created by Ochoa in 1973 commemorating various icons of Mexican-American and Latino history. Located in Chicano Park, this famous Ochoa mural was created as a collaboration with other artists in support of the Chicano movement, including figures such as Mario Acevedo, Salvatore Borjas, Guillermo Aranda, and many more who helped build and improve the art of the Chicano Park. Throughout his lifetime, Ochoa committed himself to the ongoing development of the park and also produced a publication for future Chicano artists on how to maintain and restore the murals.

Judithe Hernández (1948 – Present)

Former Los Four Chicana member and early Chicano art movement pioneer Judithe Hernández is among the most prolific Chicana artists to date. Hernández is currently based in Los Angeles and is one of the most celebrated Chicano muralists from the 1970s. Hernández distinguished herself from the crowd of the early male-dominated Chicano art space of the 1970s and was involved in many Chicano gatherings where she described herself as being the only active artist participant who was not affiliated with the movement through a personal relationship with any male artists.

Hernández attended the Otis Art Institute and after graduation, became acquainted with Carlos Almaraz who invited her to join the circle of the Los Four.

Hernández’s exploration of her creative practice was also influenced by her mentor, Charles Wilbert White Jr., who was a well-known painter that fought for the representation of African-American communities. Hernández also produced illustrations for an award-winning poetry publication by Alurista and collaborated with many other Chicano artists on murals such as The Murals of Aztlán, which was a special collaboration for an exhibition at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in 1981. Today, many of her works are housed in collections at the El Paso Museum of Art, the National Museum of Mexican Art, the Museum of Modern Art, as well as the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture, and Industry.

La Mujer (1976)

La Mujer is a tributary mural artwork created by Hernández to commemorate the women of Aztlan. The large-scale mural contains text that expresses the direct intention of the artwork while presenting a composition of female figures and icons of the Chicano movement. The center of the mural is dominated by a large woman while the religious icon of La Virgen de Guadalupe lies at the heart of the woman. The mural commemorates the lives of women in all generations of Latin American history for their dedication to their country, people, and families.

Murals of Aztlan exhibition (1981) by Judithe Hernández; Castilloz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Chaz Bojórquez (1949 – Present)

Chaz Bojórquez is one of the most well-known Chicano artists who specialize in Cholo and Chicano graffiti art. Bojórquez, better referred to as “Chaz” is credited with piloting the Chicano and Cholo art styles into the fine arts scene. Chaz started by tagging his name “Chaz” across the Highland Park area in Los Angeles in the 1970s. Chaz attended the University of Guadalajara, Chouinard Art Institute, and California State University where he further developed his artistic practice.

Chaz drew inspiration from artists such as Gilbert “Magu” Luján and other Mexican muralists who helped the artist develop his sense of self through artistic practices.

Chaz also stated that it was only much later in his life that he fully accepted his identity as a Chicano since he faced significant resistance from his family for his art and identity. Chaz’s experience with his family’s concerns over his career as a “real artist” is important to consider since it reflects common stereotypes and beliefs around graffiti and street artists who are often not held in the same respect as those artists whose works are found in museums and represented by major galleries.

“Any Drawn Line That Speaks About Identity Unity, And Dignity, That Line Is Art” (2022)

Painted in Bojórquez’ signature calligraphic style, “Any Drawn Line That Speaks About Identity, Unity, And Dignity, That Line Is Art” is set against a marine blue-green background with gold graffiti text and motifs that make the work appear regal. The inclusion of gold is the highlight of the work, which along with the artwork’s title, makes it a unique work compared to Bojórquez’s other paintings. The artwork proposes the power of the line with its relationship to Chicano art styles and the movement as a tool for unity, which regardless of the visual outcome of its marking, is still art. In other words, the purpose of the line is what makes the artwork.

Yreina Cervantez (1952 – Present)

Inspired by her mother, Yreina Cervantez is one of the most notable Chicana artists of the Chicano art movement, whose multimedia works across painting, muralism, and printmaking have become significant contributions to the movement and its recognition in major art institutions such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. Cervantez’s early artistic practice began with watercolor painting and over time evolved with her interest in the Chicano movement resulting in Cervantez becoming one of the co-founders of the Self Help Graphics center. Cervantez’s personal motifs and Chicano style is driven by pre-Columbian history, urban landscapes, an exploration of herself and identity, as well as Central American politics.

Her visual language is based on her dual worldview informed by both elements of the past and the present. She also includes Aztlan-inspired visual languages in her work, which make her work incredibly profound.

Mujer de Mucha Enagua, PA’ TI XICANA (1999)

Mujer de Mucha Enagua, PA’ TI XICANA is an iconic screenprint by Yreina Cervantez that is currently housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The screenprint’s title Mujer de Mucha Enagua refers to the Mexican Zapatista phrase that denotes a female activist and translates in English to “a woman with a lot of petticoats”. The colorful stylized print was created as a tribute to the many female Mexican-American leaders, including the poet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a Zapatista Comandante named Ramona, and Modernist author Rosario Castellanos. Cervantez also adopted the female spelling in the title “Xicana”, which further reiterates the artwork’s intention. In a way, Cervantez’s work becomes a venerative painting that honors and acknowledges the contributions of female Chicana voices in history that are often overlooked.

The Chicano art movement is perhaps one of the most significant art movements of the 20th century, which demonstrates a purpose that extends beyond the creation of art for art’s sake as commonly found in Modernist movements. These famous Chicano artists and pioneers each carry unique stories and viewpoints of their experience of the Chicano movement that resulted in unique pieces of Chicano history. One can also appreciate the importance of the movement in its ability to encourage accessibility to art in communities with a history of civil neglect, while fostering Contemporary Chicano painters with strong voices that need to be heard. Other prominent Chicano artists to study include figures such as Judy Baca, Edgar de Evia, Salvador Torres, Richard Duardo, Magú, Linda Vallejo, and Shizu Saldamando.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Chicano Art?

Chicano art refers to artwork produced via murals, paintings, screen-prints, illustrations, and street art by artists who supported the Chicano art movement of the 1960s. The Chicano art movement originated in the Southwest with the allegiance of Mexican-American communities, artists, and activist groups, who utilized public street art to historicize and recognize the different indigenous Mexican-American and Latin-American cultures.

What Were the Primary Themes of the Chicano Art Movement?

The primary themes of the Chicano art movement included conversations around immigration, politics, civil rights, anti-Vietnam war protests, racial discrimination, stereotyping, indigenous cultural iconographies, racial profiling, border militarization, displacement, injustices towards undocumented immigrants, and the lived experiences of Mexican-American citizens.

What Is the Significance of Chicano Art?

Chicano art is significant for many reasons that include the expression of indigenous Mexican-American cultural values that extend beyond their aesthetic value. Chicano art is considered to be profound for its influence as a tool for political activism and the expression of societal issues and civil injustices faced by people and communities of Mexican-American or Latin-American descent. Chicano art also pays tribute to specific histories that were underrepresented while addressing Contemporary issues.

Liam Davis( Editor-in-Chief, Writer and Art Historian )

Liam Davis is an experienced art historian with demonstrated experience in the industry. After graduating from the Academy of Art History with a bachelor’s degree, Liam worked for many years as a copywriter for various art magazines and online art galleries. He also worked as an art curator for an art gallery in Illinois before working now as editor-in-chief for artfilemagazine.com. Liam’s passion is, aside from sculptures from the Roman and Greek periods, cave paintings, and neolithic art.

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