OtherVisionsOtherVoicesCh8 Carrasco

8/14/2019 OtherVisionsOtherVoicesCh8 Carrasco

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"cbapter 8BARBARA CARRASCOOnly in her late-30s, Barbara Car rasco has already established an interna

tional reputation as an accomplished, sociallyconscious Chicana arti st Knownwidelyfor her murals in Califo rnia,Nicaragua, and the former Soviet Union, shebas also produced many outstanding paintings, drawings , and animations thatexpress the complexity of her artistic vision. Carrasco's work encompassespolitical, historical, and personal themes, focusing especially on the lives andstruggles of women and ethnic minorities in the United States. Her ar tisticefforts challenge viewers to probe beneath the surface and question the oppression, corruption, and dishonesty that have dominated so much of human history.Her early childhood provided her an abundance of experiences that lateraffected her mature efforts as an artist Born in El Paso, she moved to SoulhernCal ifornia as an infanL A third-generation Mexican-American. she grew upin the rough Mar Vista public housing project in Culver City, a residential LosAngeles suburb. Her neighbors were predominantly AfricanAmerican and Latino,many of whom were mired in unemployment or low income, dead-end jobs.Years later she stiUrecalls chilling conversations with young peers about thecrimes they had committed, including homicides. This exposure to institutional poverty, racism, and violence toughened her personally, fostering a consciousness that would eventually inform her entire arti stic work.Othe r family experiences helped foster a feminist perspective that has alsoinfluenced her life and art She remembers vividly the double standard sheendured for many years, chafing as she and her sisters washed the dishes andperformed other "women's work" while her brothers pursued their leisure activities. like many other young women of her generation, she had to be in by 9

p.m ., a requirement applicable only to the female siblings . This strict, Catholicupbringing demanded rigid control of the girls. Her paintings and drawingsthroughout the 80s and 90s have helped her to overcome the sexist heritage ofher youth.Her teenage years in particular catalyzed her political sens itivity and awareness. A participant in the Upward Bound Program at Venice High School, she

found other Chicano students during a special summer residency at UCLAThese young men and women told her about her own heritage and history, realities largely ignored in her school experiences. Th is recognition of a vibrantMexican past encouraged her to participate in the struggles of her own people.Her activist background has contributed powerfully to her present identity. Ithas enabled her to identify and sympathize with all oppressed peoples throughOUt the world. And ironically, it has empowered her to condemn and resist thesame sexism she has seen in the Chicano movement as she had experienced asachild.


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Agure 8-1 "t te History of los Angeles: A Mexican Peescecuve " Mural on masonite andwood 16 ' xBO' (40 4' x8 ' panels)


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Carrasco's artistic development both preceded and coincided with heretnerging social consciousness. Both her parents displayed strong artistic tal-eot and encouraged her to create her own artwork at home . Her father in particUlar admired the work of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, an influence that.-ou1d become apparent in her subsequent mural efforts. In high school, sheadvanced her own ar tistic techniqu e with the sympathetic guidance of one ofher teachers. Later at UCLAand in her M.FA studies at the Californ ia Instituteof the Arts . she consolida ted the style and technique that have made her a leadingsocially conscious artist in Southern California.

At the age of 19, she began a lengthy, continuing association with the United Farm Workers. headed by th e legendary Cesar Chavez until his untimelydeath in 1993. She worked on various political campaigns spo nso red by theUFWand contributed various banners and other visual works to the cause. Shebecame well acquainted with man y of the people involved in the union, furthersuengthen ing her own political commitment to the cause of Latino agriculturalworkers and others on the periphery of American society.By the early 1980s,Carrasco had developed her talents as a muralist. findingthis public ar t form especially suitable for social and political commentary. Herinitial mural project occurred in 1979, when she collaborated with Chicanoartists Carlos Almaraz and John Valadez on a zoot suit th eme mural in Holly

wood . Duri ng the 1981 Los Angeles Bicentennial, she documented the historyofminorities there in a monumental work entitled "The Histor y of LosAngeles:AMexican Perspective" (Figure 8-1). Painted on 40 4' x 4' masonite and woodpanels, the effor t is a panoramic historical vision, rich in detail and reminiscentof Diego Rivera's historical murals in Mexico City and elsewhere. Like theworks of her distinguished Mexican predecessors, it must be seen in person ,allowing viewers ample time to absorb its full impact and complexity.

The mural is thoroughly multicultural in content Many important historicalfigures from African American, Latino, Jewish , and other groups appearthroughout the work. At the mural' s far left, the strands of a young MexicanAmerican woman's long hair envelop the entire panorama. a sensually symbolicgesture of solidarity with all peoples beyond the mainstream of Anglo power inLos Angeles. Her long flowing ha ir also stretches across time. establishing thehistorical focus that generated one of the most hea ted artistic censorship battlesin modern times.Unlike most other artistic effor ts for the Los Angeles Bicentennial celebration, Carrasco's mural was cri tical rather than laudatory. Featuring numerous

historical vignettes, th e work emphasized an accurate account of ethnic conflict.political chicaner y, and economic oppression in Los Angeles. Consequently,Carrasco encounte red an all too familiar pattern of artistic suppression in theUnited States.The Community Red evelopment Agency, the sponsoring city agency, rejectedthe mural and sought to reclaim formal ownership of the work. It main tainedthat the work was deficient on artistic grounds , citing its "cluttered" character.


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....-Like many examples of arti sticcensorship, however. the realproblem was political. not ar tistic. eRA offi cials were disturbedthat Carrasco's images contradicted the sanitized official versions of regional history. Theywere embarrassed by the artist'suse in the work of an earlier censored mural in Los Angeles byDavid Alfaro Siqueiros. whose"AmericaTropical"was similarlycritical of California's treatmentof its Latino residents and immigrants. That detail (Figure 8-2)replicates Sique iros 's depictionof a crucified Mexican, a bittercommentar y about life in LosAngeles for non-white peoples ,His original mural was whitewashed more than fifty yearsago and has yet to be restored as of this writing. Redevelopment personnelobjected to the image, adapted from a Dorothea lange photograph of thatof a Japanese-Americanchild awai tingher "evacuation" to anAmerican cotration camp during the racist hysteria following the bombing of Pearl HBarbara Carrasco responded forcefully to the attacks on her artistic intby mobilizing community leaders. journalists, scholars . union activists.celebrities and others to join the str ugg le for free artistic expression. Afteryears of highly visible conflict,with all its attendant emotional consequencesthe artist. she regained her copyright and physical ownership of "The Hiof Los Angeles: A Mexican Perspective." The work was prevented, howe"';; Ifrom being situated in downtown Los Angeles and has only intermittently heelexhibited since that time.Carrasco's s tature as a public mural artist led swiftly to several invitations Coparti cipate in other artistic projects. In 1985, she traveled to the Soviet Unioo.where she collaborated with local artists 00 mural works in Moscow and Yet&'van. In 1986, she went to Nicaragua, where she co-designed and painted Imural in Managua During her visit . she identified closely with the Nicaragullworkers and peasan ts suffering severe poverty and recurring attacks froID

American-sponsored contra forces. Her own childhood, replete with comparable hardsh ip, made this identification a wholly natural response.Returning to the former Soviet Union in 1987. she conceived and organizedone of themost imaginative public art projects of her career. Working in Vert'van with young Armenians and Americans ages 10 to 16, she found a uniqut


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II Ir express a message of peace and human solidarity. Instead of a convenwall for the mural, she used a trolley bus. a common public transportationpcle in the Armenian capital city. "Peace Stamps" (Figure 8-3) consists ofages of postage stamps, each adding an individual dimension to the overalle. Carrasco and her young collaborators transformed the entire bus exteinto a color ful socially conscious artwork, ready to spread its joyful messageIefever it could be driven. As the trolley bus traversed the city, it met withlOunding and enthusiastic public approval from an historic people who knewthe consequences of persecution and war.

Flgure 8-3 "Peece Stamps" Mural on trolley bosMore recently. the ar tist has employed computer animation to advance hersocial objectives as a public muralist Working again on behalf of the UnitedFarm Workers. she created a work entitled "PESTICIDESI" (Figure 84). Di..played in New York's Times Square in 1989. this simple and effective imagecommunicated to a vast aud ience a message about the deadly effects of pesti

cides on agricultural workers. The UFW has taken a powerful and courageousleadership role in this issue of worker safety and public health. Carrasco's ar tCOnstitutes an integral part of that crusade against Californ ia's pesticide-usinggrape growers . Her efforts have also extended the domain of public ar t, motivating other socially engaged artis ts to seek new venues and artistic forms toexpress their own commitments to social criticism and change.


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Fcure 8-5 "Bang," (Detail) Banners 3 ' x 3'

Barbara Carrasco has experimented with a variety of public art forms durirher career. In her 1991 M.FA exhibition. she created a series of painted baners to advance her social vision. Once again focusing on prominent ethnminorities, she high lighted men and women who have been targeted by oppresive forces in recent U,S. hi tory. In this detail from ""BANG I" (Figure 8-5) , viet


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"dSconfront 3' x 3' por traits of folksinger Buffy St Marie. UFW Vice Presiden tJ)e lol'es Huer ta , and civil rights leader Martin Luther King .Characteristically, the artist reflects her commitmen t to ethnic solidarity bypintly depicting a Native American, a Latina, and an African American in thi s

iastaUation. On the reverse of the portraits . Carrasco reproduces Quotations(rom her subjects that reveal their resolve to resist oppression and injustice.Huer ta's Quotation is ind icative : "A Baton Cannot Silence the Voice of Truth ."for Huerta. this is no mere abstraction, for she was savagely beaten by Sanfl'1l10 SCO police during a recent political demonstration in that city. Clearly taretted because of her effective union activities , she lost her spleen as a result ofthis egregious. unprovoked assault She sued and settled her case; she now continues her lifelong struggle for justice and civil rights. Car rasco's ar tworkrtfiects the same dedication. providing inspiration to others to follow sui tConcurre n t with her overtly political public artwork, Carrasco also producesdrawings and paintings reflecting deeper personal themes. In pursuing suchthemes, she is fully cogn izant of the close linkages of the personal and the polit-

--Figure 8-6 "sne's Given A Bone- Ball pOInt pen drawing 4 w x e"

icaI. At bottom, she realizes that intense personal feelings and exte rnal hurnareactions are inseparable from th e dominant realities of social life. In th eir owuniquely creative ways , all the women artists in thi s book promote an identic.unders tanding .An emotional work she produced in 1986 exemplifies this consciousnes"She's Given A Bone" (Figure 8--6) , a 4" x 6" ink drawing, reveals her feelings a


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F''ilJre 8-7 -Milk the Pass Acr)i1Ccanvas 12 It 24 -

awoman inmodern society. By placingthe unclothed female imageOil aUmouth wide open to receive whatever scraps may be made available, theemphasizes the continuinggender inequality inall aspects of life. For her, bulreal ity has pervaded her entire life. It emerges eq ually from her child and fSlescent experiences and fromher adult life asanartist and activist Her thErecollectionsofsupplicationpersuadeher that themodestbenefits derived histhisposture comeatanoverwhelming cost of self-respect. TIledeeper I>OUlli piamessage is unmistakable: womenmust demand anequal share of fam ilyPIlI 'Illleges, artistic commissions. job opportunities, personal dignity, and v e ItOelsethatmenhave taken (or granted over the centuries. "Bones" will nolorIIisuffice. , rt , ITh e drawing also encompasses a sim- UIilar perspective about race and social /JIclass. The artistgrewuppoor andChi- dYlcana in awhite society. She hasequal- anIy vivid memories of her people beg- lhlging desperately for bones in a capital- 1lst society preserving its privileges histhrough institutional racism and other ,itprotective mechanisms. "She's Given (. ofA Bone" speaks with equal force to allpeople forced into lives with little hopeand even less dignityCarrasco also uses her art toexploreher role as a light-skinned MexicanAmerican woman, with all the conflictsand confusions that thatstatus inevitablygenerates. A painting from 1990 sensitively expresses her distress about herabsorption into mainstream Americansociety. "Milk the Pass" (Figure 6-7),loaded with autobiographical s ign ificance, depicts a nude young womanbeing swallowed into a milk bottle, signifying the dominantAnglo socie ty. Thelast part to fall is the woman 's long,braided hair, a Mexican traditioo for females, and a recurring image throughoutCarrasco's work..The artist also uses several otherdetails in the composition to indicateher complex feelings about her cultural identity. At the base of th e milk bot-


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de for example. are the numbers 8-5-55. the date of her birth in EI Paso. Theo ' no peppers at the side of the bottle also reflect Mexican eating customs.bUt they tOO are overwhelmed by the much larger symbol of white society.~ r e c e viewers familiar with Mexican food also recognize that milk cutsthe sting of spicy food, a further indica tion of the declining role of communitylJisto ryand culture for Mexicans living in the United States. Finally, Carrascop1ICt5 very light images of cockroaches on the curtain in the background .'TheSt unpleasant pests. evoking strong memories of childhood in the publicbtJUsing projects, are also on the verge of disappearing, perhaps a positive consequence of the impending absorption into white society.Millionsof immigrantshavehad similar reactionsto the Jossof their heritage.

Like Carrasco. whose skin color and professional involvement in mainstreamAmerica make her wonder who she really is. they must also grapple with thedYnamics of image and identity. Whatever th e individual and collective answers ,;I1WOrks like "Milk the Pass" stimulate people to reflect seriously about issuesIhal will pervade this multicultural society for decades to come.Barbara Carrasco's art also celebrates various aspects of Mexican culturalhistorythat have enriched her own life and work. Foremost among them is the'fibrant tradition of visual art. Her familiarity with th e great Mexican muralistsgf the early 20th century has influenced her entire artistic direction for almostreenty years. Th roughout that time , she has eq ually acknowledged the importanee of Frida Kahle. the celebrated woman artist with whom she feels a special

FIgure 8-8 -Frida y Yo- Ball point pen drawing 8 - x 10-


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901 Othtf" v......,OtberVoN:esaffinity. Carrasco has expressed this close emotional and professional c0llntt.tion in several paintings and drawings. Like other women artists. she r nizes the immense value of identifying with a creative heritage long ignoredbymale dominated cultural institutions.

A striking example of her Frida Kahlo portraiture is an ink drawing she call"Frida y Yo" (Frida and I) (Figure 8-8). Once again she returns to f301ililrimagery, th is time intertwining the braided hair of Frida at the left with her 01Ilat the right. The hair of both women artists comes together at the center, at.ating a lamp-like symbol that memorializes the linkage and illuminates tiltopportunity {or other women artists to discover their own creative anceHer close physical resemblance to Frida Kahlo in this drawing, morstrengthens the feelings of solidarity, an additional inspiration to her womenleagues throughout the artistic community.

ManyofCarrasco's smaller scale works express the same overt politicalmentary featured in her murals and othe r public artworks.in the Unitedand abroad. In 1991, Karen Atkinson invited her to contribu te a work toslide projection project in New York entitled "1992: Conquests Do Not BeOnly To TIle Past," a public art event explored more fully in Chapter 3.raseo responded with a scath ing work entitled "Undiscover 550Years" (Pi8-9) . This car toon-like effort reflects her own strong dissent from the cele

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Figure 8--9 "uncrsccver 550 veers" Ink on paper (slide cartoon strip)

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rynature of the Quincentenary. Instead, she emphasizes the act of false g ivg that quickly transforms into real taking.Thesmugly dishonest expression of the European conqueror contrasts sharplythe puzzled look of the inhabitant of the newly "discovered" land. The Euro

'S gifts. not surprisingly, reflect the treachery, thievery, and genocide thate transpired for the past five centuries . Carrasco's simple image eschewsllbuety, an effective strategy to engage the public audiences looking quickly ate images being projected as they walk along the street in NewYork's theateristrict. The satirical undercurrent in much of her workmakes her an outstanding

representative of that ancient visual tradition. Aspart of a larger series ofballpoint pen drawings in thelate 19800, she called dramatic attention to the hypocrisy of many righ t-wingAmerican religious figures.Focusing on the discredited Jimmy Swaggart, sheproduced a scath ing drawing called "Here Lies/ HearLies (Figure 8-10). Thetitle's play on words alertsviewers to the forthcomingvisual assault, This smallscale effor t is reminiscentof a calavera, traditionalMexican folk ar t for theDay of the Dead, popularized by Jose GuadalupePosada a century ago.

Finely drawn lines andwitty details combine tohigh light Swaggart's wellpublicized disgrace. Theprostitute at the bottom of

Figure 8-10 "Here Lies/ Hear Lies" Ball point pen the drawing wears onlydrawing 11" x 14" shoes and slinky hose,stuffed with the currencyat Swaggar t and other slick televangelists extract from their gullible audinces. Grasping his leg. the prostitute symbolizes the actual debauchery that


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virtually destroyed the Rev. Swaggar t's lucrative operations. The preachersell, replete with bible and microphone, sheds the crocodile tears thatingly mollified his supporters before his final encounter in the sexual unworld. His ghost-like features represent his welcome departure from thenational scene, facilitated with the traditional "hook" representing a failed ...unwelcome performance. Extremelyeffective in its ownright, "Here Lies/ HLies"joins the distinguished tradition of anti-clerical satire produced by BoBrueghel, Goya, Grosz, Heartfield, Orozco. and many others.Barbara Car rasco's political commentaries and her personal exploratisolidify her stature as an artist of complex vision and enormous talentintense moral vision infuses her entire ar t. allowing her to confront some ofmajor issues of the times. Her perceptive observations. impressive techniqand exceptional versatilty ensure an even more visible presence well into

next centur y.

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OtherVisionsOtherVoicesCh8 Carrasco