• Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s ELA Music Stories
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen

latinopia.com

Latino arts, history and culture

  • Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s ELA Music Stories
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen
You are here: Home / Blogs / RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT “PRINTING THE REVOLUTION”

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT “PRINTING THE REVOLUTION”

November 21, 2020 by Tia Tenopia

Cover of the book Printing the Revolution!

Chicano Art: ¡Presente! ¡Printing The Revolution!
The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to
Now. Smithsonian American Art Museum

By Ricardo Romo, Ph.D.

There is exciting news on the Chicano art front. The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, in association with Princeton University Press, has just mailed out its fabulous 340 page book, ¡Printing The Revolution!The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now . I received my copy just in time for the virtual tour that the Smithsonian will have at the end of this week [Nov.19, 2020].

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has been collecting Chicano art for nearly a quarter century and the
virtual exhibition includes many of the Chicano artists that Harriett and I have collected over the past 50 years. Yes, it has been that long since my wife and I first fell in love with art made by Chicano artists. We collected works by over 300 Chicano artists, so we know a thing or two about this field.

Poster for the documentary Yo Soy Chicano.

When the Chicano art movement began in the late 1960s, Malaquias Montoya from the San Francisco Bay area, was at the forefront. The Smithsonian’s Chicano Graphics exhibition featured several of his early works, including his poster Yo Soy Chicano for KCET TV in Los Angeles, for a documentary produced by Jesús Treviño, one of the nation’s earliest and most talented Chicano filmmakers and producers.

Montoya, one of the most recognized and accomplished Chicano artists of his generation, served in the U.S.Marines in the mid 1960s and used his G.I. Benefits to enroll at UC Berkeley. Between the years 1968 to 1970, UC Berkeley and most California campuses were engaged in anti-war protests as well as struggles over the lack of inclusion of students of color. During his college days at UC Berkeley, Montoya emerged as an important figure in the development of Chicano poster art.

Montoya had previously worked in the print industry in San Jose, California. In San Jose he learned silk screen techniques that he introduced to UC Berkeley art department students. The late 1960s were a time of much social unrest in America.

Montoya and fellow activists utilized posters to educate, inform, and motivate the public. A major social
justice cause for many urban students was the plight of farm workers. Student activists rallied behind Cesar
Chavez and his fledgling UFW union. Montoya contributed to the UFW movement by producing a vast number of posters in support of higher wages, better working conditions, and union recognition.

Montoya painting for the cover of Latino High School Graduation: Defying the Odds by Harriet D. Romo and Toni Falbo.

To address social justice and workers’ rights, Montoya worked as a volunteer producing posters for free. Montoya had migrated as a child with his family to harvest the crops of California’s Central Valley. Montoya also joined other artists in muralism. Some of the first Chicano murals in the United States had their origin in the San Francisco Bay Area. Montoya excelled in the arts and eventually spent most of his career teaching printmaking at UC Davis.

Montoya recently retired from the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department at UC Davis where he taught for many years. His department wrote: “A man of great political and artistic principles, he believes that art should be directed to the broadest possible audiences, including those who do not frequent commercial galleries. Montoya has elected to make the world his art gallery.”

Montoya print of educator and writer Tomás Rivera.

Today, Montoya lives in a small farming community in northern California and remains very active in the arts. His UC Davis colleagues commented that there is “no ambiguity in Montoya’s works, as the art form is used to
convey the artist’s political message” as well as his commitment to better education, economic stability, and safety and health for all. In his artist statement Montoya explained his artistic philosophy, “As a Chicano artist I feel a responsibility that all my art should be a reflection of my political beliefs—an art of protest.” He is well-known for his exhibits protesting the death penalty, posters proclaiming the importance of education, prints demanding the mobilization of farm workers, and community advocacy for disenfranchised groups.

_______________________________________

Copyright 2020 by Ricardo Romo. Yo Soy Chicano poster copyrighted by and from Jesús Treviño collection. Montoya painting for the cover of Latino High School Graduation: Defying the Odds by Harriet D. Romo and Toni Falbo. Collection of Harriett and Ricardo Romo. Montoya print of educator and writer Tomás Rivera. Print commissioned in 1992 by Ricardo Romo for Tomás Rivera Ctr. . Montoya. Print for the “Execution Series.” 2010. Collection of Harriett and Ricardo Romo.

Filed Under: Blogs, Ricardo Romo's Tejano Report Tagged With: Ricardo Romo's Tejano Report

POLITICAL SALSA Y MÁS with SALOMON BALDENEGRO 08.13.22

August 13, 2022 By wpengine

¡Viva Barrio Hollywood! I’m often asked about my background – where I grew up, etc. So I decided to take a break from the day’s “heavy” political topics and instead hit some highlights about Barrio Hollywood, where I grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s to respond to some of the questions posited to […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 08.13.22 – CARMEN TAFOLLA AWARD-WINNING POET

August 13, 2022 By wpengine

Carmen Tafolla: A Prize-Winning Latina Poet Carmen Tafolla’s contributions to American literature are multifaceted and profound. Her readers already knew this when Alex Haley called her a “world-class writer.” Literature teachers and students celebrated her selection as San Antonio’s first Poet Laureate in 2012 followed by her 2015 appointment as Texas’ Poet Laureate. A steady […]

BURUNDANGA BORICUA DEL ZOCOTROCO 8.06.22 “BENDITO BENITO”

August 6, 2022 By wpengine

Burundanga de Zocotroco José M. Umpierre Bendito Benito Confieso mi resistencia a querer abonar el tema. Tanto se ha dicho y escrito de Benito Martínez Ocasio (Bad Bunny) y su concierto reciente en Puerto Rico que me resultaba fútil añadir una opinión mas al mar de tinta y papel. Sin embargo, aquí me encuentro aceptando […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 8.06.22. MARTA SANCHEZ – CHICANA TRADITION AND MEMORY

August 6, 2022 By wpengine

The Life and Art of Marta Sanchez: Impressions of Chicana Culture, Tradition, and Memory In 1984 Marta Sanchez, a young Chicana artist from San Antonio, was selected for the “Mira” exhibit which was the first national Chicano/Latino art exhibition in America. Sponsored by Canadian Club, a beverage powerhouse in the United States and Canada, the […]

More Posts from this Category

New On Latinopia

LATINOPIA MUSIC LOS FABULOCOS “UNA PURA Y DOS CON SAL”

By Tia Tenopia on January 4, 2015

Delta Groove Music recording artist Los FabuLocos is a Southern California band whose unique sound, “Cali-Mex,”is a fusion of blues, Americana and Chicano soul music. Band members include Jesús Cuevas, accordion and vocals; Rubén Guaderama, guitar,bajo sexto, tres and vocals; James Barrios, bass and vocals; Mike Molina, drums and Kid Ramos, guitar( not in this […]

Category: LATINOPIA MUSIC, Music

LATINOPIA ART SONIA ROMERO 1

By Tia Tenopia on October 7, 2013

Sonia Romero is a graphic artist, muralist and print maker. The daughter of Chicano art pioneer Frank Romero, she has boldly set out on her own artistic trajectory. Her art includes stunning prints, canvases and public murals. Latinopia visited Sonia at her studio in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles where she spoke about […]

Category: Art, LATINOPIA ART

LATINOPIA ART GASPAR ENRÍQUEZ 1 “RETROSPECTIVE”

By Tia Tenopia on May 4, 2014

Gaspar Enríquez is a renowned Chicano artist whose airbrush portraits of barrio youth are haunting and memorable. Drawing from museums and collectors around the United States, in April 2014, the El Paso Museum of Art mounted a retrospective of Gaspar’s art titled Metaphors of the Barrio. Latinopia visited the exhibit and asked Gaspar what inspires […]

Category: Art, LATINOPIA ART

© 2022 latinopia.com · Pin It - Genesis - WordPress · Admin