Art
by
Latina/o art is the shaping, iterating, and/or interrogating of the cultural expressions of one’s relationship—even if contested—to latinidad. This definition speaks to the concerns of artists who may choose to directly or indirectly address latinidad, as well as to the reception and interpretation of the work of Latina/o artists. When art is used with a qualifier such as the point of origin or gender of an artist, questions arise about whether such a designation implies a uniform or identifiable aesthetic outcome. Just as “Latina/o” and “Latin American” are heavily contested terms, so too is “Latina/o art” in that it can be used as an umbrella term to encompass diverse artistic practices from geometric abstraction to activist driven social practice art. Adriana Zavala (2015) has addressed the shortcomings of the term “Latin@ art,” in particular in its emphasis on immigrant cultures and the ways it does not account for particular histories like the Hispano experience in the Southwest, as well as its elision of class and race differences. Zavala ultimately argues for the importance of Latina/o art as a category worth defining, studying, and supporting so as not to further marginalize the practices of artists who have been relegated to the...
This essay may be found on page 12 of the printed volume.