Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

This is the public statement made by Uruguayan artists who rejected the invitation to submit their works to the Primer Salón Nacional de Bellas Artes and called for an exhibition that had nothing to do with the government. Their main argument was [...]

A declaration written in manifesto format, in this text, artists and critics from São Paulo suggest a number of rules for the composition of the jury to select works for the II São Paulo Biennial (1953). The signers of the document demand a more [...]

The essay is a brief artist statement in which Amalia Mesa-Bains recounts her beginnings as an altar-maker at the Galería de la Raza in San Francisco in the late 1970s and her subsequent transition from constructing personal altars to public [...]

In this artist statement, Bibiana Suarez discusses how her work reflects her search for self-identification and the problems of living between two cultures—that of Puerto Rico and the United States—as a self-imposed exile. Suarez also describes [...]

"Art Liberation Movement" is Mario Castillo’s personal manifesto, which appears on the artist’s website. The Chicano/Mexican artist who works from Chicago expresses in this statement his desire to liberate himself from "the aesthetic constraints [...]

In this statement, the Chicago Artists' Coalition (CAC) voices its objection to the mid-competition change of rules and procedures for selecting artists for The Chicago Show. It calls the organizers’ decision to add an invitational component to [...]

This is a very brief statement by Chicana visual artist Patssi Valdez. In it, she discusses the ways in which the content and appearance of her art has changed since her working as an artist got started. She emphasizes the autobiographical quality of [...]

In this short, early artist statement, Cuban-born artist Ana Mendieta explains that the first part of her life was spent in Cuba from where she believes her interest in primitive art and culture probably originated. As a child growing up in Cuba, she [...]

Artist Juan Boza opens this statement by discussing his hometown of Camagüey, Cuba. He mentions that the city has many “magico-religious” legends inherited from its ancestors. Boza also notes the African roots of his religious beliefs stating [...]

In her artist statement, Maria Martinez-Cañas states that her photographs enable her to confront herself with personal issues like “belonging, alienation and [her] position in the outside world.”  She describes her utilization of maps to “ [...]

In this statement, artist Raphael Montañez Ortiz describes the process by which he created Archaeological Find, Number 9. Through a ritualistically-prescribed series of destruction sessions, Ortiz recounts how he ripped the sofa apart, thus “ [...]

This open statement written by New York-born Puerto Rican poet, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez, is addressed to writers, painters, musicians, and artists saying that although they have dedicated their lives to the creation of art forms that sustain [...]

This brochure for artist Raoul Deal includes photographs of his works from 1984–1992, biographical information, an artist statement, and teaching philosophy.  Deal outlines his artistic philosophy as one informed by popular culture. He cites a [...]

This artist’s statement by Carmen Lomas Garza was included in the catalogue for the exhibition of her work, A Piece of My Heart/Pedacito de Mi Corazón, which traveled to various cities in the states of Texas, California, and Illinois, in 1991. In [...]

In Tony Labat’s short artist statement, he notes that he left Cuba as a child and upon his return there as an adult in the early 1980s he felt as much a stranger there as in the United States. Labat discusses how before his return to Cuba his art [...]

Mario Bencomo’s artist statement describes how he was born in 1953 on the date of the Moncada Barracks offensive and grew up within the revolution. Growing up Bencomo knew he did not want to stay in Cuba and declares that exile has made him more [...]

In Juan Gonzalez’s artist statement, he describes himself as very religious and traces the source of his work to the drama in Catholic imagery. He states that he works outside of the American mainstream and feels a greater connection to the “ [...]

In Agustin Fernandez’s artist statement, he begins with his formal training at the San Alejandro Academy. He also discusses how he “was to be nourished by a thousand things when [he] went abroad” and was greatly influenced by both Enrique Senal [...]

In this artist statement, Cuban-born painter Carmen Herrera begins by recounting her training at the Montessori School in Havana, the San Alejandro Academy in Havana, and her studies of architecture at the Universidad de la Habana. Though the artist [...]

Cesar Trasobares opens his artist statement by noting that while he was a student at different universities in Florida, he painted Cuban subjects and called the works examples of “Cubanistic Pop Art.” He then discusses the reasons involved for [...]

Statement by a group of professors of their concern about the events that took place at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón [Prilidiano Pueyrredón National School of Fine Arts] [ENBAPP] and the Escuela Nacional de Bellas [...]

This document was issued in 1989 as an agenda of the needs and dreams for Latino culture and the arts in Michigan. The agenda, composed of three sections, proposed to address issues of unity, diversity, and the further development of Latino culture [...]

In this artist’s statement, the Cuban-born painter Paul Sierra writes about the meaning of his art as an exploration of myth and memory, and about his search for identity located in the midst of two cultures and in both the past and the present. He [...]

This text describes the founding of the Raza Art and Media Collective in 1975 and declares its six main goals, all aimed at cultivating art and education among Spanish-speaking people in Michigan. These included: 1) to provide education and [...]

These artists’ statements appeared in a catalogue documenting the first exhibition held in Chicago that conjoined Chicano, Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Venezuelan art and artists in words and images, Arte Hispano-Americano en Chicago=Hispanic- [...]

This text describes the beginnings of the mural movement in Chicago in 1967, the initial leadership of black artists, and the involvement of community activists and artists among Latino, Chicano, and white populations. Also, it points out the [...]

The text states that—although France had always been a symbol of freedom—the French government, along with its curators and some artists, was willing to send a submission to the São Paulo Biennial despite the dramatic situation that Brazil was [...]

The text informs the Italian press that in the meeting which took place on October 15 and 16, 1975, it was agreed among the artists representing Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Uruguay to constitute the Fronte [...]

In the Declaration that accompanied the Tucumán Arde [Tucumán is Burning] exhibition, the artists denounce “the hidden truth behind this Operation”: the attempt to destroy the unions and guilds of the northeastern part of Argentina through the [...]

Julio Le Parc responds to a request to side against the 1971 São Paulo Biennial. This artist wrote a statement in which the crisis of art is brought up. After enumerating several issues at stake, he concludes that the art’s revolution will be [...]

This statement by the Frente Antiimperialista de Artistas de Rosario [Artists of Rosario Anti-Imperialist Front] (F.A.D.A.R.) lists the following irregularities: during the detention and torture of political prisoners, the intervention in labor [...]

A statement concerning the agreements arrived at by the participating artists at the II Encuentro de Plástica Latinoamericana [Second Gathering of Latin American Visual Artists], held in Havana in October 1973, immediately after the military coup d [...]