Art Criticizing Anti-Immigrant Law Deemed Too Controversial

Last month, for an exhibit of Troy University faculty members, Art & Design Professor Edward Noriega created some pieces that criticized Alabama's anti-immigrant law, HB 56, (which some people have said is tougher than Arizona's infamous SB 1070).

But directors of the Heritage Hall Museum, in Talladega, objected to some of the content in his artwork and had some of his best pieces removed from the exhibit.

Some of the pieces deemed too controversail were a portrait of the Virgin Mary holding a broom and dust-pan called, "Nuestra Señora de la Limpieza," ("The Cleaning Lady"); an ashtray adorned with the words, "State of Alabama," and "Feed me -- Get Out"; something that looks similar to a stack of Ajax cans, but instead reads, "ALA with HB56 ethnic cleanser"; and a swastika that sharply points out the indifference, or non-action, by religious denominations in resisting HB 56 become law.

"I wanted to be able to compare what Alabama is doing with that the Nazis did. I do believe that this law is a form of ethnic cleansing," Noriega told a local news station.

You can view all of Noriega's political artwork on his website: http://politicalabamadesign.com/

Recommended: MEX/LA at the MOLAA

You only have a few days left to catch a great exhibit in Long Beach called, MEX/LA: Mexican Modernism(s) in Los Angeles 1930-1985 which "intends to tell a history of L.A. or of Mexico that often has not been seen as neither and yet it is important and both." It is showing at the Museum of Latin American Art, but ends February 5th, 2012.

The exhibit, which spans over four decades, is made of many different medias and has pieces from great Mexican artists like David Alfaro Siquieros and modern Chicano artists like Chaz Bojórquez.

The show can be broke down into three type sections: First, there are the Mexican artists like Siquieros and José Clemente Orozco who are represented in the show mostly because they painted murals when they visited Los Angeles. Although there are also a few artists represented in this show who were born in Mexico, but later moved to Los Angeles, or spent a good part of their lives living in Los Angeles--and therefore being influenced by the city.

Then there are many pieces by artists who have no blood-relation to Mexico but were being influenced by Mexico, either because they lived there for a while or studied Mexican art and culture. Although this section, spends a lot of time devoted to architecture, to me the most interesting things were the pieces relating to popular culture. For instance, the exhibit includes a short from the Disney film The Three Caballeros, which was created after studio artists visited Mexico to soak up the culture. (And video featuring the Spanglish-speaking Speedy Gonzalez)!

Lastly, there are the Chicano artists like Barbara Carrasco and Bojórquez, who has more than one piece in the show. Of course, once again to help represent the Chicano/a culture there is also a beautiful lowrider from Jesse Valadez Sr. right at the entrance, which is actually very much a highlight.

Other highlights include work by Yolanda López: photographs; drawings from her Virgen de Guadalupe series; and a very hilarious installation titled, "Things I Never Told My Son About Being A Mexican." The other highlight, for me, were all the great photographs of people--mostly of Chicanos/as in East L.A. There were many from ASCO member Harry Gamboa Jr. and some great ones from Graciela Iturbide, who in the 80s, took up residence with a family from the East L.A. barrio of White Fence and shot lots of photographs of Cholas on their daily routines.

Recommended: Asco at the LACMA

There are many things to like about the current Asco exhibit at the LACMA, "Asco: Elite of the Obscure, A Retrospective, 1972–1987." For one, it is the first major retrospective of this pioneering Chicano art collective.

Second, it is good, quality, high-brow art that was doing new (crazy) things in the art world--and doing a lot of them in public! (In the streets of East L.A. nonetheless).

Third, there is the historical side of it. I, for one, was very giddy to see photos and art that featured early East L.A. punk bands, Los Illegals and The Brat. (Also, a treat to see pics of a young Marisela Norte, an L.A. poet).

The exhibit itself is very wild, as it tries to capture the essence of the group. A lot of different mediums, like paintings, video, costumes, but mostly, photographs make up the exhibit. An article from the NY Times best explained their style in the following manner:

Asco’s method was a kind of bombastic excess and elegant elusiveness that would have made Tristan Tzara proud, not to mention Cantinflas and Liberace. The Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight wrote that the group “brought Zurich Dada of the late-1910s to 1970s Los Angeles.” But it was a distinctly Chicano brand of Dada, by way of David Bowie and Frank Zappa, drag and Pachuco culture, telenovelas and oddball UHF television stations, and New Wave and silent movies.

Exhibit closes December 4, 2011.