Querida Maestra
Art Exhibition
El Mundo Zurdo 2013
Activism, Philosophy, and Pedagogy
Curator: Anel I. Flores
Nov. 14-17, 2013
UTSA Downtown Campus
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Curator’s Statement
Querida Maestra
Anel I. Flores
In the ethno-poetics and performance of the shaman, my people, the
Indians, did not split the artistic from the functional, the sacred from the
secular, art from everyday life. The religious, social and aesthetic purposes
of art were all intertwined.1
When working with my hands on writing or painting, I open myself up to
listening to the whispers of my ancestors that come in the form of gentle
nudges of my imagination and my ability to see past what is directly in front
of me but rather what is inside, under, beyond and in between the physical
and spiritual. All of my work intertwines.
While gathering the artwork for the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa
exhibition, the same process of opening up and connecting the artistic with
the functional and the sacred with the secular is priority. On a physical level,
I also reread everything I can get my hands on, everything which Anzaldúa
had her hands on, and listen to our Querida Maestra whisper and nudge us
all into one ceremony, one dance, one altar de arte.
I am honored to be given the chance to work through our Querida Maestra in
this exhibition and in my everyday life as an artist and writer.
Gracias, maestras.
Gloria E. Anzaldúa. “Tlilli, Tlapalli/The Path of the Red and Black Ink:
Invoking Art.” Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza 2nd ed. San
Francisco: Aunt Lute Books,1997
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CELESTE DELUNA
Red Coatlicue and Viva La Gloria
Woodblock Print
2013
My work is primarily about borderland spaces: physical, spiritual, and
conceptual. Those in between spaces are where I find myself, sometimes
intact and sometimes, not so much.
Biography:
Celeste De Luna is a South Texas artist from the Rio Grande Valley. She was
recently a Visiting Artist at South Texas College where she had a one person
show “Nepantla: Art from the Four Corners of the Valle” and participated in
the 2013 Texas Biennial. You can reach her at litebluna@me.com or see
more of her work at www.celestedeluna.com
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ANEL I. FLORES
Curandera Reverenda Virginia Marie Rincón
Oil on Canvas
2013
My work honors, explores, dissects and erects a home for women traveling
through their bodies on the wave on gender, sexuality, love, skin, spirit,
story and soul. Anzaldúa, her antepasad@s, along with contemporary
maestr@s, live in all of her work.
Biography:
Anel I. Flores, Tejana, lesbiana, writer and visual artist earned her BA in
English and MFA in Creative Writing. She is the author of SemiAutobiographical Fiction collection, Empanada: a Lesbiana Story en
Probaditas. During her 15-year career, Anel’s visual art and fiction has been
produced and published in anthologies, journals, theaters, galleries and
museums. In addition to her work as a community artist, activist and writer,
she has been an educator and administrator in San Antonio’s public schools,
and also curated and facilitated many creative arts partnerships with
community groups. Her awards include the Mentorship and Leadership
Initiative Award from the National Performance Network, a grant from La
Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, CA, The Yellow Rose of Texas Salute to
Quality Education Award, and scholarship to the National Association of
Latino Arts and Culture Leadership Institute and National Conference. She is
a member of Sandra Cisneros’ Macondo Writer’s Workshop and the National
Association of Latino Arts and Culture. Currently she is working on a series
of Silver Jewelry Sculptures, Oil Painting exploring her coined Gender Travel,
and a novel, Tiempo
Olvidado.
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JOSH T. FRANCO
In tlilli, in tlapalli: three Tejanos in red and black
Installation
2013
I am interested in territorializing three notable figures’ bodies as Tejano. The
three are Donald Judd, Sandra Cisneros, and Gloria Anzaldúa. These are
chosen based on three factors: their philosophical explorations and politicalaesthetic deployments of “red and black”; their conceptual and physical
rootedness in Texas; and the role of their writings in my own conditions of
possibility. Judd, Anzaldúa, and Cisneros each produce(d) substantial bodies
of text. I am also interested in the inscription of these texts onto/as physical
presences (bodies) and the space this might produce if presented together.
One aim is that the co-presence of these three invokes a deterioration of
borders between different aesthetic systems and their respective tribes who
thrive in Texas: the art cognoscenti in whose cosmologies Judd is a central
figure and the heavily overlapping worlds where Cisneros and Anzaldúa
anchor different orbits. It is remarkable that these three not only reside(d)
in Texas, but located the region centrally in much of their thinking and
creations. Yet they are frequently figured as alien to one another (Judd and
Anzaldúa / Cinseros).
“In tlilli, in tlapalli” is the Nahautl term signifying the red-and-black medium
of the tlamatinime (the knowledgeproducing class) in which their wisdom
was recorded. The red-and-black trope figures explicitly in key essays by
Judd and Anzaldúa. Both evoke it in the context of indigenous Americans
and the US Southwest as a territory. Judd cites the Hopi and Navajo and
Anzaldúa “the shaman, [her] people,” understood as the Mexica. The pairing
of red and black held spiritual, spatial, and visual significance for the
indigenous, and consequently for Judd and Anzaldúa. Cisneros does not cite
these indigenous traditions, but shares her own potent use of “simple” colors
(including red and black) to produce sensuality in her writing as well as a
clear concern for reading the US Southwest against the grain of conventional
histories alongside Judd and Anzaldúa.
Finally, I am interested in the intergenerational transmission of knowledges.
This interest is embodied in the act of hand-transcribing works by these
thinkers and including “glyphs” of the artist’s own making into the work.
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NANCY GUEVARA
¡Arriba Mi Gente!
Digital Print
2013
I believe in art that is accessible, art that empowers, and art that is socially
aware. Accessible in that you don’t need to pay money to see it, accessible
in that it is relatable and communicates effectively, art that does not
intimidate. Art that empowers, art that reflects our
communities, our pride, and our struggle. Art that is
socially aware, art that educates, art that begins
conversations, art that supports reflections over
solutions. Art that shows the humane side of political
and social chaos. Art and design that can help students
problem solve, art that positions students as activists
and critical citizens, design that allows for reflection and
exploration of identity. Art that helps us learn more
about ourselves and others. Arts and education that can
give us the freedom to form our own thoughts,
perspectives, and think beyond social norms.
My work has been heavely influenced by the writings of
Gloria Anzaldúa, and this poster was directed by her concept of “El Mundo
Zurdo”, the left hand world, as a process toward justice through education
and advocacy. It focuses on bettering ourselves in order to improve society.
I created this screenprint, to depict her activism and idea of societal healing
through the acceptance and celebration of diverse linguistic, and cultural
traditions.
Biography:
I am Nancy Edith Guevara Medina, I am a designer, artist, and activist. I
was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, where I developed as strong love for
border culture, a passion for activism through art, a deep sense of social
responsibility, and an adaptive reuse mentality and practice. I studied
painting and muralism at the Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and
Fine Arts under Jorge Vasquez, an artist and former bodyguard to Cesar
Chavez. I went on to attend the University of Texas at Austin to study
interdisciplinary design, where I gained a focus on humanitarian design.
After graduating, I moved to Mexico City on a Fulbright grant to practice
humanitarian design for education and youth. In Fall of 2013, I will be
starting a Master’s in Arts in Education at Harvard University, focusing on
the intersection of humanitarian design and art, social justice, Chicano
studies, prevention and juvenile detention, and critical citizenship in youth.
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INES HERNANDEZ-AVILA
Anzaldua Collage
Mixed Media
2013
The photo is one that I took of Gloria Anzaldúa in Benicia, CA, in the 80's
when she and I re-found each other, she drove over to see me, and we had
a wonderful visit. She is still incredibly close to me. I am also Tejana, like
her, on my dad's side, and we first met in Austin in the 70's when we were
not so well-known. She and Yolanda Leyva and I were buds, dear friends.
Gloria believed in me and I believed in her, always. We could share a look
and understand each other. When I first read Borderlands, I felt tremendous
joy in all my being.
Biography:
I have been teaching since about 1986 at UC Davis, in Native American
Studies. I have been in exile from Texas since 1981. Soy indigena through
and through. Nez Perce on my mom's side, and on my dad's dad's side, we
are from the San Luis Potosi area, with strong indigenous roots. Soy poeta,
escritora, profesora, y guerrera espiritual en esta vida en esta tierra.
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MEAGAN A. LONGORIA
Lupe la Fuerte
Oil on Canvas
2013
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“FE” FELICIA MONTES
Where’s Raramujer?
Video Short--4 minutes
2011
“Where’s Raramujer?” is a short video collage of various times that
Raramujer and the bumpin bici have participated in street interventions.
The video documents the various pieces into a creative video short
interweaving performance, protest, and prayer in guerrilla interventions to
embody themes of Mobility, Message, and Spirit. The artworks are public
manifestations that investigate the aestheticizing of protest and move
between privates spaces and public spectacles, thereby planting the seeds
for dialogue and transformation of self and community. The work’s main
focus is consciousness-raising in new audiences and getting off the stage,
outside the gallery, and into the streets. The video asks the question,
“Where’s Raramujer?” and thereby asks the viewer . . . Have you seen her?
And Where are You?
The character “Raramujer” is an urban indigenous woman who shares oral
history and urban indigenous worldviews across Los Angeles. Within this
role, I use my voice as a tool for education, empowerment, and
transformation as well as other ceremonial happenings. Through these
performance interventions I am a messenger of politics and peace who reappropriates public space in marches and community corners as I ride a
bike, play politically charged music, and share some of my own Xicana
feminist political, spiritual, and cultural poetry and floetry/hip-hop. I ride
along festivals and marches and sidewalks and street corners becoming both
part of the events and urban setting as a performance and also making my
life as a Xicana protestor and performing artist my art. I also share much of
my indigenous traditions and songs thereby creating public ritual and
performance prayers in the streets. The video is available on DVD or in a
QuickTime file.
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MARICELA OLGUIN
River and Serpent
Vinyl and Papel Picado
2013
I like to use the old school tradition of Mexican folk art paper cutting with
the recent photographs of everyday people. This is how I like to keep the
memory of my ancestors alive in my everyday life. In River and Serpent, I
use an image of Gloria with her arms held open and one arm is el rio and the
other is the serpent. Water helps us heal, grow and its currents bring us new
adventures in life. The serpent is a mix of rattlesnakes and indigenous
iconography, and the struggle of one trying to be one or the other. The one
thing that holds us all together is the corn. Seeds that were planted by our
ancestors that give us our roots, traditions and nutrients.
Biography:
Maricela Olguin, a local San Antonio, Chicana artist uses her cultural and
creative expertise to enrich the community. Since her childhood days of dancing
folklorico for an international ensemble, she has been devoted to creating
artwork that stirs emotions and preserves cultura. She is the founder of Cochina
and the owner and baker at Sweet Chela’s Bakery.
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GENEVIEVE RODRIGUEZ
Sin Vergüenza on the Line
Acrylic on Canvas
2013
In this painting I wanted to create a challenging space. I wanted to invoke
our malcreada desires and speak to the timelessness of struggles through
accountability, communication, growth identities and language.
Biography:
Genevieve Rodriguez is a Queer Latina cultural organizer working within
theater/performance, visual arts y labor to learn, grow, challenge, heal and
love alongside incredible jot@s in my communities.
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ANITA TIJERINA REVILLA
Querida Maestra: Anzalduista y Muxerista Siempre
Oil paint
2013
As a self-identified Anzalduista, her paintings are visual representations of
muxeristas, Chican@/Latin@ feminists, and Joteria. Guided by Anzaldúa's
call for healing and transformation, her art documents radical queer feminist
love.
Biography:
For twenty years, Anita wanted to take an art class, so in 2011 she took her
first art class. She's pleased to share her art with you, con mucho amor.
Anita Tijerina Revilla is Associate Professor and Director of Women's Studies
at University of Nevada Las Vegas. She teaches Chicana/Latina Feminism,
Critical Race Feminism and Radical Feminist and Queer Love. Her research
focuses on student movements and social justice education, specifically in
the areas of Chicana/Latina, immigrant, feminist and Queer rights activism.
Her expertise are in the areas of Joteria Studies, Chicana/o Education,
Women of Color Feminism, and Critical Race/Ethnic Studies.
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LUIS VALDERAS
There Was a Time
Mixed Media
2013
I create because I have always wanted to see further—to collapse borders,
to transform and explore social and cultural ambiguities that exist in that
space in between. Growing up on the frontera and my father’s stories
revealed spaces of shared experiences. These stories and experiences,
fueled with my interest in Mesoamerican mythology and iconography present
themselves in my work. The images explore possibilities by isolating and
rearranging iconic components of realities. By retelling my family’s story
while at the same time representing them as collective cultural icons I
connect the collective experience of past and present generations.
We have collective experiences. Carmen Tafolla’s poem, This River Here,
brought back memories-my history with my parents, brothers and sister. It
represents images of my history floating in the space between memory and
reality. The lattice is ambiguous; an allusion to the earth mother along a
reed-covered river peppered with skulls suggesting our ancestors while the
streaks of fingers grab at the chain links of a fence. Through the mist, a
couple stands together hand in hand, an allusion to life and survival on the
border.
Biography:
A native of The Rio Grande Valley, Valderas‘ work is featured in; Chicano Art
for Our Millennium & Triumph in Our Communities, by Bilingual Review
Press. Permanent collections include: Arizona State University, the
University of Texas San Antonio, the San Antonio Museum of Art and the Art
Museum of South Texas.
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LILIANA WILSON
Niña y luna
Color Pencil & Acrylic on Paper
2013
Through drawings and paintings, I explore the power of complex emotions
implicit in the human struggle for integrity. My images come from the
subconscious - realities colliding on multiple levels while beauty emanates
from my subjects. Recently, my work has shifted to incorporate spiritual
aspects of the universe and its surrounding beauty as necessary components
of our human experience.
About the work:
There is an ethereal, otherworldly beauty in all of Wilson’s work that also
lures the viewer to a place of hidden messages, mystical tales untold and
lives to be lived. The paintings/drawings are intimate and moving, telling
stories with the outcome left up to the viewer.
Biography:
Liliana Wilson was born in
Valparaíso, Chile where
she began drawing at the
age of eight. As a young
woman, she studied law,
but
quickly
became
disenchanted after Chile
suffered a military coup
that lasted 25 years. She
immigrated to the United
States
in
1977
and
pursued formal studies in
art, at Austin Community
College and at Texas State
University. Her drawings
and paintings have been
exhibited in museums and
galleries throughout the
U.S., Mexico, and Italy.
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CLAUDIA ZAPATA
En boca cerrada no entran moscas (Flies don't enter a closed mouth)
Acrylic
2013
In Gloria Anzaldúa's pivotal publication, Borderlands, there is a phrase that
is deconstructed and which my grandparents say; "En boca cerrada no
entran moscas" (Flies don't enter a closed mouth). Whenever this adage was
uttered I always had a personal, literal visual manifestation of such an
experience of a fly actually entering into a mouth. This creation of a
consequential agency for women struck a nerve and to queer this saying I
decided to create an image that portrayed an assertive mouth, tongue and
desire for flies-with flies being a metaphor for information and in essence a
personal truth.
Biography:
Claudia Elisa Zapata is an
award-winning art historian
and curator with a B.A. and
M.A. in Art History from the
University of Texas at
Austin. She is currently the
Curator of Exhibitions and
Programs at the Mexic-Arte
Museum. She co-founded
ChingoZine, a Latino art
zine and the Puro Chingon
Collective, a local Latino
arts collective. Her art
historical specialties range
from Classic Maya art to
Contemporary
Latino/Chicano art and she
is currently developing an
educational resource
webpage,
chicanoarthistory.com.
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RENE RIO YAÑEZ & SARAH GUERRA
Comprometida: Flowers or Maiz? expresses the Nepantla zeitgeist of Queer
women in Tejas.
Photography and Digital Art
2013
Drawing on traditional Mexican wedding portraits and contemporary graphic
art Comprometida: Flowers or Maiz? expresses the Nepantla zeitgeist of
Queer women in Tejas. The images feature Anel and Erika a traditional San
Antonio Lesbiana couple whose love is not being recognized by the
Government or mainstream society. The portraits features symbols like corn
and tampons in defiant response to the struggle for Queer rights and
women’s rights in Tejas.
Biographies:
Rio Yañez is a curator and graphic artist from San Francisco, California. His
work mixes Chicano icons and pop culture as a tool for exploring identity
politics. He has exhibited his work from San Antonio to Tokyo.
Sarah Guerra as born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and currently resides
in Oakland, CA. She is a photographer, cultural worker, and warrior of the
non-profit arts. Guerra doesn’t kill for the thrill, but she cuts for the cause.
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The Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa
http://www.ssganzaldua.org
The Women’s Studies Institute at UTSA
http://www.utsa.edu/wsi/
Latin@ Studies Program
University of Missouri – Kansas City