westernartgirl
luckygrrrTere Romo and a Seven-Year Quest for Art Along the Hyphen
Updated Jan. 10, 2012 — As much as Domingo Ulloa’s painting Braceros has become a symbol and one of the most admired works in the Autry’s current exhibition Art Along the Hyphen: The Mexican-American Generation, there was a time when its very existence was little more than a theory. The large canvas, which depicts a … Read more
Roberto Chavez Maintains His Sense of Humor
Probably my favorite artist in the Autry’s show Art Along the Hyphen: The Mexican-American Generation (part of the mammoth Getty initiative Pacific Standard Time) is Roberto Chavez. The six artists show a range of styles from frankly abstract to realist to surrealist. Chavez, 79, falls largely in the representational, figurative category, though there is much … Read more
Dia de los Muertos the Way They Do It Back Home
This year’s ¡Vivan los Muertos! celebration at the Autry, on Saturday, will carry what you could call a Oaxacan seal of approval. Rogelio Santibañez Arellanes, cultural promotion director for the state government of Oaxaca, Mexico, was on hand all this week as a consultant to help guide the celebration. “I come to make the offerings … Read more
Michael Heralda: Passing on a Native Philosophy Through Stories
Michael Heralda found his life’s vocation in a dusty book bin in a yard sale 17 years ago. But he is neither author nor bookseller. He is a storyteller and a philosopher for our time, fostering people’s understanding of what is and is not authentic in the modern world. “The key to remember is that … Read more
An Interview with Louie Perez of Los Lobos: Evangeline’s Long Road
Louie Perez gets a little flummoxed when he reflects on his partnership with fellow Los Lobos bandmate David Hidalgo. “I’ve been writing songs with David and the band for forty years!” he said. “That’s kind of scary.” Perez chatted with me ahead of the Autry’s presentation this week of Evangeline, The Queen of Make-Believe, an … Read more
Dora De Larios: Sculpting a Mexican-American Identity
Most days, you can find Dora De Larios at her happiest in her Venice studio, surrounded by vases, plates, plaques, sculptures and even giant totems, all of her own making, in various states of completion, and made from stoneware and a variety of other materials. De Larios, one of the six artists featured in the … Read more
George Sanchez: Disentangling Mexican-American Identity
George Sanchez believes those who try to “protect” their culture from “attack” or “invasion” — as immigration restrictionists do today and as Chicano Power warriors tried to do in the sixties and seventies — are like a thirsty man trying to catch water with a sieve. In other words, they fight a losing battle. Sanchez, … Read more
A Latina Writer With Something to Say About Immigration — and Motherhood
Recently I asked the writer Melinda Palacio whether Latino writers still have something to say in 2011. The question is somewhat rhetorical, but she knew what I was referring to: through the 1980s and 1990s, it seemed like every new literary star was a Latino, and readers clamored for any novel with a slightly exotic … Read more
LA Plaza Opens a Space for Mexican-American History and Culture in Los Angeles
Given that almost anywhere you go in Los Angeles, you’re likely to encounter some aspect of its Mexican origins, on some level it seems almost redundant to have a museum dedicated to L.A.’s Mexican and Mexican-American history, culture and art. On the other hand, not to have one is unthinkable. The latest effort to rectify … Read more
Reyna Grande — Mexican Past, American Present
Updated May 11 — Author Reyna Grande looks off into the middle distance while she thinks about an interviewer’s question. She is mentally traveling in familiar but painful territory, and she seems to want to make sure she picks the correct words. She is in no hurry to answer. Grande, who was at the Autry … Read more
