Contested Narratives: Chicana Art from the Permanent Collection
January 21, 2004 - May 15, 2004

During the height of the Chicano Movement in the late 1960s and 1970s, artists created a unique iconography of symbols and images that became synonymous with Chicano art.

While the majority of these artists were men, Chicana artists also developed their own artistic language to explore and define a perspective that many times was at odds with their male counterparts. No less subversive or political, this language drew on many influences, including the domestic sphere, personal memories and gender identity.

The exhibition selected from The Mexican Museum's significant collection of paintings, prints, photographs and mixed media pieces that define and contextualize the “feminine” narratives found in the work of Chicana artists.

Represented in the exhibition were the Bay Area's Carmen Lomas Garza, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Ester Hernandez, Irene Perez, Eva Garcia, Patricia Rodriguez and Linda Lucero; Los Angeles' Patssi Valdez, Yreina Cervantez and Elizabeth Rodriguez; New Mexico's Delilah Montoya; and Texans Kathy Vargas and Santa Barraza.


Carmen Lomas Garza Curandera 1989