“The Latino American Art Exhibit”
By: Enrique Carrillo Jr
Chicano Studies 007
LACMA has focused on the Latin American culture for about a decade maybe more and they have the largest holdings of the Latin American in that specific time in the United States. The artwork shown in the ancient American gallery showed different cultures that were all over Mesoamerica, the Central American had paths in-between lands to pass through other parts of land Mesoamerica. The continents depended on the land and climates that gave rise to a mass variety that made traditions more artistic. As many differences as they had, people from across the Americas put work into the carved and painted surfaces of their art to show how they respect and viewed the world. Most of the artifacts tell us stories of creation, the splendors of royal life, and the rituals they performed of the everyday. These artifacts capture the hard work of the ancient come up and the beauty of their civilization that would soon enough catch the attention of many modern day artists.
During my visit at LACMA I viewed different types of art such as jewelry, pots, masks, paintings, and small statues. I was in the “Latino American Art” exhibit and a lot of the art there reminded me of what we have went over. They also had their own definition of a Mesoamerican from what we had gone over in Chicano studies. Their definition of a Mesoamerican is “refers to the diverse geographic and cultural region that contain most of Mexico. The Mesoamerican people built cities around, temples, plazas, and platforms, and the homes in the specific structures have the same figurative features of the natural landscape.” This specific section caught my attention because the Mesoamericans is what we first went over in Chicano Studies and it a little more information on them than what we went over in class.
I only went to two exhibits and those were the “Latino American Art" exhibit and the “Playing with Fire” exhibit, I went to these two specifically because these mentioned about the Chicano culture. There was a lot of the Latino American culture that seemed similar to the what we studied in class, some of the ancient carved scenes looked really familiar to the type of art we have seen on the Chicano. Also another section I saw when I walked in and actually paid attention to from the “Latino American Art” exhibit was about their ritual life and it was similar to the Chicano’s how they would have a sacrifice themselves so they can give life to humanity. And the people offered ceremonial gifts to the Gods so the can help them in the earthly realm with their concerns. The most expensive gift to offer was blood because blood was shed from the gods to create humanity so in return the people would cut themselves and give the gods the blood to keep them happy. I was expecting to see something like this because I knew that most of Mexico had to believe in a god or gods and how they brought back humanity and in return they had to sacrifice or give back to the gods in some way to repay them for what they have done for them.
In the Latino American Art exhibit I learned a lot about their culture and a lot of it did seem similar to what we have studied in Chicano studies. The Latino Americans also did rituals for their gods to be happy and the way they did these rituals were similar as well because they also believed that the gods came down and spared their blood to create humanity so they give back to the gods with these rituals and sacrifices. What I didn’t know was how corn was a big impact on them both diet wise and economy wise, I saw that corn had its own importance and how it affected the Latino’s positively. It amazed me to see how corn (maize) has such a positive effect on the Latino’s economy; it grew cities, started kingships. It is known for all of that but it was also known because it became a good source for trade and the Latino’s saw the harvest as rich or it “symbolized riches” because they would get these nice expensive objects from the wealthy people from far distances. An object that was received for trade from the corn was the “Green Jadeite” this represented the lushness of the corn, and fertility, but because of its rarity the Green Jadeite simultaneously signified the status and authority of the ruler/king to provide such abundance.
I learned a lot from the “ Latino American Art” exhibit most of the art that was there reminded me what we went over in class but seemed to be different in many ways. Such as the rituals, most of the rituals I read about were performed slightly differently and some just didn’t relate to what I remember from what we studied, but the only similarity in the ritual life was the cause which was to keep their gods happy by having a ceremony/festival and a sacrifice. Other than that I also learned about the corn and how it grew their economy and helped them with trade and riches, and how it really helped them. I was more focused on the bigger artifacts but I also saw a couple pots, utensils and other small tools but I didn’t pay to much attention to them, they did look really fancy and unique nothing like I’ve seen before. I also read about the Mask and how in the early period, Olmec artists had found an interest in using the human likeness. The Olmec used stone masks and face pectorals were common in early settlements. These mask were unique they had a snarling upper lip, almond=shaped eyes, and downturned mouth, but all these characteristics characterize the Olmec, and such features were eventually seen throughout the region as a shared artistic tradition developed
I think this exhibit is significant to the Mexican/Chicano history because it gives you information and description on artifacts that you see. With that being said, you also get to see the artifacts or pictures or whatever the object may be in different perspectives that you couldn't get from a book or a computer. It's, also, significant because you could go more in depth with the people there who could answer all your questions than a teacher could. But most importantly it shows how the Mexicans/ Chicanos where they came from and how they rose. It shows how they expanded and how they lived their lives compared to now in modern century. They went over a lot of what was going on and how everything was advancing through art. All these artifacts are unique in there own way because they all have a special meaning to their culture and everyone can see how what they were used for.
A lot of the art I saw reminded me of what we have went over but the only thing I can connect to what we have went over was the rituals and how they praised their gods. That is was what really caught my attention in class as it caught my attention at the museum, but other than that I couldn’t really connect anything else. I can connect the rituals not only because they praised their gods like that but also the fact that most of Mexico praised their gods and they all did it through certain rituals. The Chicanos and Mexicans have always praised a god or gods and they all have a certain custom ritual when it comes to a god, they don’t always have sacrifices but most usually do.