Image credit: Artemio Rodriguez, The Piñata that Doesn’t Fall, 2015; linoleum cut on paper; 32 x 23 inches; copyright © Artemio Rodriguez, courtesy of the artist
Chicano/a/x Printmaking: Making Prints and Making History – 50 Years of Art Activism
Exhibition
February 8 – April 5, 2020
Thursday through Monday 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
(closed Tuesday and Wednesday)
Chicano/a/x Printmaking: Making Prints and Making History – 50 Years of Art Activism is a multi-site exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the SDSU Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies. Born in 1969 out of community struggle and a spirit of revolution that is ongoing, the Department’s activist stance is reflected in the exhibition. Featuring important historical and contemporary examples of printed works on paper, the exhibition highlights printmaking as one of the oldest, most enduring, and widely used processes for Chicano/a/x artists working from the 1940s to today.
Chicano/a/x Printmaking presents a robust selection of linoleum cuts, monoprints, screenprints, and woodblock prints that manifest community concerns and dreams, pride and cultural affirmation, and the use of art as an agent for change. Produced by individual artists and collectives, the artworks provoke discussion on relevant and urgent issues. For example, topics addressed in the exhibition include mass migration, border walls, family separation, extreme poverty, generalized violence, racism and hate, climate change and environmental deterioration, political polarization, and other critical challenges of contemporary society.
Chicano/a/x Printmaking is drawn largely from the Gilberto Cárdenas and Dolores García Collection of Latino Art. With a distinctive focus on Chicano/a/x printmaking, the Collection includes individual works as well as complete portfolios by Chicano/a/x artists in its holdings of more than 10,000 objects. Artists and groups in the exhibition include Yreina Cervantes, Rupert Garcia, Diane Gamboa, Ester Hernandez, Malaquías Montoya, Victor Ochoa, Self Help Graphics & Art, and Salvador Roberto Torres, among others.
Chicano/a/x Printmaking: Making Prints and Making History – 50 Years of Art Activism is organized by the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies in collaboration with the SDSU Downtown Gallery. The exhibition and events are sponsored by Ruben Islas, Nadia Gastelum, Adrienne and Juan Vargas, Gilberto Cárdenas, Southwest Airlines, ArtStartArt, the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, the College of Arts & Letters, the School of Art + Design, the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts, and Arts Alive SDSU.
SDSU Events:
Tuesday, February 18, 5:30 – 6:45 p.m.
Lecture by Artist, Victor Ochoa
Hepner Hall, Room 221
SDSU Campus
Tuesday, February 18, 7:00 – 8:15 p.m.
Lecture by Scholar, Amelia Malagamba
College of Arts and Letters, Room 104
SDSU Campus
Thursday, February 20, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Opening Reception
Gallery Tour with Amelia Malagamba and Gilberto Cárdenas from 6:15 – 6:45 p.m.
SDSU Downtown Gallery
Thursday, March 19, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Downtown at Sundown
Gallery Talk by Norma Iglesias Prieto
SDSU Downtown Gallery
Saturday, March 21, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Department of Chicano and Chicana Studies 50th Anniversary celebration
Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center
SDSU Campus
Partnering Exhibition Sites:
The FRONT Arte & Cultura
Exhibition of works by Salvador Roberto Torres
February 8 – 20, 2020
147 W San Ysidro Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92173
https://thefront.casafamiliar.org/
Centro Cultural de la Raza
Chicano/a/x Printmaking: Making Prints and Making History – 50 Years of Art Activism
February 8 – April 5, 2020
2004 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92101
https://centrodelaraza.com/
El Colegio de la Frontera Norte
Chicano/a/x Printmaking: Making Prints and Making History – 50 Years of Art Activism
February 8 – April 5, 2020
Carretera escénica Tijuana – Ensenada, Km 18.5, San Antonio del Mar, 22560 Tijuana, Baja California, México
https://www.colef.mx/