¡Printing the Revolution! - by Claudia E Zapata & Terezita Romo & E Carmen Ramos & Tatiana Reinoza (Paperback)

About the Book

"In the 1960s, activist Chicano artists forged a remarkable history of printmaking that remains vital today. Many artists came of age during the civil rights, labor, anti-war, feminist and LGBTQ+ movements and channeled the period's social activism into assertive aesthetic statements that announced a new political and cultural consciousness among people of Mexican descent in the United States. ÆPrinting the Revolution! explores the rise of Chicano graphics within these early social movements and the ways in which Chicanx artists since then have advanced innovative printmaking practices attuned to social justice. More than reflecting the need for social change, the works featured in the catalogue and exhibition project and revise notions of Chicanx identity, spur political activism, and school viewers in new understandings of U.S. and international history. By employing diverse visual and artistic modes from satire, to portraiture, to appropriation, conceptualism, and politicized pop, the artists in this exhibition build an enduring and inventive graphic tradition that has yet to be fully integrated into the history of U.S. printmaking. This exhibition is the first to unite historic civil rights-era prints alongside works by contemporary printmakers, including several that embrace expanded graphics that exist beyond the paper substrate. While the dominant mode of printmaking among Chicanx artists remains screenprinting, the installation features works in a wide range of techniques and presentation strategies, from installation art to public interventions, augmented reality, and shareable graphics that circulate in the digital realm. The exhibition is also the first to consider how Chicanx mentors, print centers, and networks nurtured other artists, including several who drew inspiration from the example of Chicanx printmaking. Featured artists and collectives include Rupert Garcâia, Malaquias Montoya, Ester Hernâandez, the Royal Chicano Air Force, David Avalos, Elizabeth Sisco, Louis Hock, Sandra Fernâandez, Juan de Dios Mora, the Dominican York Proyecto Grafâica, Enrique Chagoya, Renâe Castro, Juan Fuentes, and Linda Lucero, among others. ÆPrinting the Revolution! features more than 100 works drawn from the Smithsonian American Art Museum's pioneering collection of Latinx art. The Museum's Chicanx graphics holdings rose significantly with an important gift in 1995 from the renowned scholar Tomâas Ybarra-Frausto. Since then, other major donations and an ambitious acquisition program have built one of the largest museum collections of Chicanx graphics on the East Coast."--

Book Synopsis

A groundbreaking look at how Chicano graphic artists and their collaborators have used their work to imagine and sustain identities and political viewpoints during the past half century

The 1960s witnessed the rise of the Chicano civil rights movement, or El Movimiento, and marked a new way of being a person of Mexican descent in the United States. To call oneself Chicano--a formerly derogatory term--became a political and cultural statement, and Chicano graphic artists asserted this identity through their printmaking and activism. ¡Printing the Revolution! explores the remarkable legacy of Chicano graphic arts relative to major social movements, the way these artists and their cross-cultural collaborators advanced printmaking methods, and the medium's unique role in shaping critical debates about U.S. identity and history.

From satire and portraiture to politicized pop, this volume examines how artists created visually captivating graphics that catalyzed audiences. Posters and prints announced labor strikes and cultural events, highlighted the plight of political prisoners, schooled viewers in Third World liberation movements, and, most significantly, challenged the invisibility of Mexican Americans in U.S. society. While screen printing was the dominant mode of printmaking during the civil rights era, this book considers how artists have embraced a wide range of techniques and strategies, from installation art to shareable digital graphics. This book shows how artists have used and continue to use graphic arts as a means to engage the public, address social justice concerns, and wrestle with shifting notions of the term Chicano.

Lavishly illustrated and featuring three double gatefolds, ¡Printing the Revolution! presents a vibrant look at the past, present, and future of an essential aspect of Chicano art.

Exhibition Schedule
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
May 14-August 8, 2021

Published in association with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

Review Quotes

"[A] handsome book. . . . There's a looseness, a jagged brio that gives the images in ¡Printing the Revolution! a visual bang -- a kind of primal pop."---Tim Francis Barry, Arts Fuse

"A fat, beautifully illustrated catalog . . . [it] is a worthwhile artistic endeavor on its own."---Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times

"Finalist for the Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award, College Art Association"

"Finalist for the PROSE Award in Art Exhibitions, Association of American Publishers"

"One of the best catalogues of the year."---Tyler Green, Instagram

"Shortlisted for the Alice Award, Furthermore Grants in Publishing"

"Winner of the ALAA Thoma-Foundation Exhibition Catalogue Award, Association for Latin American Art"

About the Author

E. Carmen Ramos is the Smithsonian American Art Museum's acting chief curator and curator of Latinx art. Her books include Tamayo: The New York Years and Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art. Tatiana Reinoza is assistant professor of art history at the University of Notre Dame. Terezita Romo is an art historian, curator, and writer. She is the author of Malaquias Montoya. Claudia E. Zapata is the Latinx art curatorial assistant at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.