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March 2001 • April 2001 • May 2001 • June 2001 • July 2001 • August 2001 • September 2001 • October 2001 • November 2001 • December 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 |
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MARCH
2001
• Alma Lopez's response to Jose Villegas (3/17/01)
•Yikes, what
artists have to endure from self-righteous control freaks. --Lisa Justine
Hernandez, Ph.D. abd, University of Texas at Austin (3/18/01)
•I wanted
to write something to Mr. Villegas expressing my outrage at his remarks,
which are very male-centered and catholic-centered. What he left out
was a critical analysis of how it was the catholic church who imposed
such "sacred" icons and such traditions in the first place,
through the genocide of an entire continent. And what does he mean by
"sacred"? Guadalupe is sacred to me and I loved your piece.
I thought it had a very powerful message. On the contrary, I think the
piece reflects years of indoctrination by the Catholic Church, and how
you are saying "no", and putting up a strong mujer. --Favianna
Rodriguez, artist, Oakland, California (3/18/01)
•I have never
disrespected my elders and their elders, especially "la mujer"
in my barrio. By all respect, don't give me this bullshit about critical
analysis of how it was the catholic church who imposed such "sacred"
icons and such traditions in the first place, through genocide of an
entire continent. There is also another side of a story, especially
the church history. Either your educated about New Mexico and Southwest
church history or your not! So what gives? Again, I am a man of devotion
to our blessed mother. Let no man or woman interfere in this devotion.
--Barrio Warrior (3/18/01) •It was clear that the guy who wrote that letter to you knows nothing about the struggle of chicanas within la Raza. His message came across loud and chauvinistically clear. --Garciafea (3/18/01)
•Hi Alma,
nice, diplomatic response. If you wanted to be confrontational (and
you don't) you could tell the idiot to look up fascism in the dictionary.
--Ramon Garcia (3/19/01) •Wait, a
minute, did i just step into a time machine and accidently hit reverse
to the Spanish Inquisition? Luis Alfaro was right...Jesus save us...from
some of your followers!! --Josie, Xicano Books (3/19/01)
•[To Jose
Villegas]... you might want to look up a favorite painting of mine by
Jose Clemente Orozco (famous Mexican muralist) where he paints Jesus
Christ as a man you has come back to reclaim his name and stop the criminals,
politicians and capitalists who have misused the name of God. He is
holding an ax and has chopped down his own crucifix. It is really powerful....
What I wish you would understand is the idea that La Virgen belongs
to no one as much as it belongs to everyone. Her image has been created
and recreated by hundreds of thousands of Chicanos like you and I- look
on the walls of your corner markets or your neighborhood iglesia or
the notebooks of our highschoolers. Every one of us, in our own way,
has taken her image and made it personal. You don't agree with Alma's
expression, and you know, that's cool. But do not create mitote where
there need not be.--Erick Serrato, Los Angeles, California (3/19/01)
•I am from
New Mexico although I have been in San Diego for 11 years now. I was
formerly the curator at the Centro Cultural de la Raza. I am not sure
if we have met but I have admired your work for some time. Any time
a re-imaging takes place there can be contention (which in and of itself
is certainly not bad) especially if it involves faith and sexuality.
- Patricio Chávez, photographer/instructor, UC San Diego (3/19/01)
•WOW....
It is completely fascinating to me how the Virgen image can cause such
outrage when not portrayed in its "official" form. I love
and admire your response, too--brave and diplomatic in the face of his
explicit and rather threatening tone. --Josefina Ramirez, Getty Museum,
Los Angeles, California (3/19/01) •Well girl, you just keep poking at the internal contradiction in our community, "How do so-called activists reconcile their politics with their fundamentalism?" ...These attacks are part of an underlying contradiction in the "progressive" community which has never acknowledged its deep sexism, its mimicking of the dominant power structure, and its homophobia. It's past time to do so. What can I tell you mujer? Keep doing your work. It's good work and it raises critical issues. It's strong aesthetically. It's strong content-wise. It's smart. It's hilarious. It's truthful. --Aida Mancillas (3/19/01)
•Aye Chingao
Alma, en que te metiste mujer? I meant to call you and tell you that
a friend of a friend who was at the opening night reception for your
exhibit loved your work and said that it created quite a buzz (a good
one) and that several people loved your work also. --Lindsey Haley (3/20/01)
•Wow Alma,
good gosh! As a descendant of North American Indigenous people, and
as a feminist, I just got to tell you that guy was a really scary asshole.
For him to proudly call vengeful Catholic guilt an 'Indian' value really
shows how far apart the ancestors' children have gone. --Nadia Reed
(3/20/01) •As a collector,
an academic (with some experiences with similar controversies), a former
resident of New Mexico (northern), a Latin Americanist (with a better
grasp of history than Villegas), and a card-carrying Anglo Protestant
(with a far better grasp of all the religious issues than Villegas),
I find this an anti-feminist, authoritarian, chauvinistic, preposterous,
bigoted, reactionary, and almost perverse attack on an entirely legitimate
genre. --Frederick Nunn (3/20/01) •Diosa mía Alma. What a gorgeous and life-affirming imagen. Gracias. Others have already eloquently voiced the solidarity I share with you. Keep on mending the divide between body and spirit, girl! --Juana Alicia (3/20/01)
•I believe
the catholics (especially the priests) are using you as a scapegoat.
Why don’t they see past the image. Why haven’t they asked
what it means to you and understand that is what you feel. that you
are not trying to change an image of their virgen. Honestly at this
point in time the Catholic church is losing many members for different
reasons, and one is that people sometimes don't think on their own.
--Diana Laura (3/24/01) •I think the pieces you have in the CyberArt exhibit are wonderful and very meaninful. As an artist myself, I am very sympathetic with this struggle against censorship. I hope the museum and Board of Regents will recognize that there is not one hispanic community here with only one voice. --Jane Sauer (3/24/01)
•I am a resident
of Santa Fe New Mexico, and to put it mildly I was extremely offended
by Your painting Of the blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of our Savior
Jesus Christ in a bikini, as well as with your painting of Nuestra Senora
de Guadalupe with the Mermaid. I was just as offended to learn that
you are a Hispana and should know better than to show utter disrespect
for the mother of Jesus as well as the Mother of the Americas. --Carlos
Martinez, Santa Fe, New Mexico (3/25/01)
•I saw your
Virgen de Guadalupe for a brief moment on TV shown only as it related
to the controversy. What I saw, I really liked. --Susan Lefebvre (3/25/01)
•Although members of our community may not like the way Ms. Alma Lopez depicted "Our Lady", she had every right according to the First Amendment of our Constitution, which gives to all of us the freedom of speech, to create the work and for the Museum of International Folk Art to exhibit it. --Connie Mississippi (3/25/01)
•I recently
went to Mexico City and in the local newspaper "Reforma" I
saw an article referring to [the exhibit].... I find it "muy padre"
and very "nueva-latina" While I do vernerate the concept of
the Virgin I also appreciate the cleverness and wit of viewing it as
simply an icon which can be used for expression by artists like yourself.
--Ana Cristan, Washington D.C. (3/26/01)
•Alma, for
whatever it's worth, I like it.... No matter what you do, you're going
to ruffle a lot of clerical collars whenever you attempt to alter any
of their revered icons in such a way that they deem offensive. --cycocat3
(3/26/01) •These icons
do belong to everyone and no one. It is important to recognize the reality
of our history, our presence and our future. Alma, what you are creating
only represents who we are, using who we were as a culture. I commend
you for your vision and applaud the Museum for recognizing that your
art has meaning, history and cultural significance supporting it and
should not defined as purely religious. --Consuelo Flores (3/26/01)
•I support
your individuality and applaud your ingenuity. Art is art and you have
a right to express it exactly as it was conceived. There will always
be those who do not agree nor understand the creative process nor the
interpretation which is totally subjective.... --Luna (3/26/01)
•I am in
total support of your right to exhibit your work and am absolutely against
the negative actions of the individuals who are protesting your wonderful
work. Please be aware that many of us admire your work and support your
creative spirit. --Maria Herrera-Sobek, Professor of Chicana/o Studies,
University of California at Santa Barbara (3/26/01)
•To Mr. Villegas:
When you deny an Artist the right to portray the Virgen as a Chicana
it is if you are saying she is not one of us. Our embrace and identification
with her is important in recognizing her true purpose.... The Virgen
stands symbolic to our community and as such have every right to express
this in our work. Your action echos the very opposite of what her very
appearance means, and as such truly is a disservice to her meaning and
message.... --Margaret Garcia, Los Angeles, California (3/26/01)
•Girl - you
rock! I am devoted to both la virgen de guadalupe and la virgen san
juan de los lagos and your interpretations make positive statements
about the strength, controversial dual standard, and multi dimensional
roles of women. If you're ever in san antonio, the first round is on
me. --Frances Trevino, San Antonio, Texas (3/26/01)
•I am so
sorry that this is happening to your work. I will announce this to my
Chicana Lit class tonight and encourage them to write to support you
and your art. I have recently written an article in which I discuss
your other controversial work--La Virgen y La Serena.... I hope all
works out well for your right to interpret Mary as you see fit. --Elizabeth
Rodriguez Kessler, Assistant Professor, California State University
at San Marcos (3/26/01) •Your response
to Ms. Lopez's interpretation of the Vigen is very much like a observation
I recently read, "People that are very eager to tell you about
their religion are almost never willing to listen to you about your
religion".... --Sergio Hernandez, Artist, Indian Oak Graphics (3/26/01)
•As a cultural
critic and collector of Chicano art, I recognize the cultural, spiritual,
and creative value of Alma Lopez's work. --KarenMary Davalos, Chicana/o
Studies Dept., Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California
(3/26/01) •I am a New
Mexico resident and journalist -- baptized Catholic at birth.... It
disturbs me greatly that it's only when she is portrayed in a way that
associates her with sensuality and nature -- and with the sensuality
of women in particular -- that the portrayal is being labeled "blasphemous."
It is hardly that. If anything, this portrayal is one of spiritual insight.
--Catalina Reyes, journalist, New Mexico (3/26/01)
•...I am
sorry that some people have taken offense and hope that you aren't depressed
by their reaction. Unfortunately, it seems that most people are ignorant
of the creative process and what it means to be an artist. They don't
understand that as artists, we are trying to communicate our ideas and
emotions through our work. I tell myself that that must be the reason
that people make such baseless judgments about artwork and artists.
--Tracy Bailey (3/26/01) •I guess
what's the most scary to me is this whole censorship of art (Christian
McCarthy-ism). I find it so ridiculous that the same system (the church)
that has enslaved us with self-hate and an out dated moral code, still
has so much control over our humanity towards each other. --Victoria
(3/26/01) •I think
your work is interesting , too bad some people take it too much to the
heart.... oh well just like the say we have freedom of speech but what
about freedom of art?--el capricho (3/26/01)
•As a Xicana
lesbiana, I am aware of our cultura's hypocrisy and conservatism which
is compounded by religion. Art is sacred, not because some of it deals
with religious themes, because it deals with our complex humanity. Obviously,
there are some Chicanos who would want to negate our queer existence...
much like the patriarchal conquerors have tried to negate and exterminate
the indigenous elements of our cultura.... If the art is so powerful
that it provokes self-proclaimed righteousness on the behalf of Villegas
and others like him... can it not provoke dialogue? Or are THEY not
healthy enough to do this? --Adelina Anthony, MACHA Theatre Co (3/26/01)
•I am quite
familiar with Ms. Lopez’ artwork, and the richness of expression
she brings to both traditional and contemporary Chicana/o images and
issues. From her public artwork on billboards and murals all over the
L.A. area to her "digital" collections online, I find her
artwork a unique contribution to an evolving Chicana feminist sensibility,
with an altogether consistent and visionary spirituality....Alma's work
makes her faith and tradition real to her, and to many other women like
myself. She should be applauded, not mocked, for her efforts to incorporate
Catholic traditions and symbols into contemporary artwork. --Susana
L. Gallardo, Religious Studies, Stanford University (3/26/01)
•I am the
Director of MACLA here in San Jose where we were privileged to have
your work included in the Gender, Genealogy show....I love your work--
your de-construction of traditional icons and forms is very powerful...not
since Ester Hernandez depicted the Virgen as a Karateca and Yolanda
Lopez depicted her as a jogger (and that was 25 years ago) has an image
of the Virgen been as powerfully re-contextualized as in your work....
--Maribel Alvarez, Mexican American Center for Literature & Arts,
San Jose, California (3/26/01) •I have recently
become aware of the controversy regarding the recent exhibit of Alma
Lopez. We have her art work in our living room because it is beautiful
and because it challenges me and other to think outside the box. There
are more critical injustices in the world that people should become
involved with instead of spending their time censoring art.... Alma
is a critical artist for critical times. --Trinidad Sánchez,
Jr., writer (3/26/01) •The piece
is a wonderful reclaiming of a Catholic cultural icon.... Lopez's interpretation
reworks the image to raise important cultural and political questions.
The viewer has no choice but to question his or her assumption pertaining
to the sacred and the profane, it does what all great art should do,
elicit a reaction, forcing the audience confront long held notions.
--Gabriela Rodriguez, Stanford University (3/26/01)
•I always
say good things about art work and even If I don't understand it. God
has given people such as yourself great gifts to share with His creation
beauty and wonders of His Reflection. But the digital photograph of
"Our Lady" is an art so offensive that heaven cries out.!
I can't even find words to express it. --J. Sanchez (3/26/01)
•I am so
sorry that you have been targeted by this tapado who feels he is the
authority on our collective historical and religious culture. I agree
that La Virgen belongs to all of us, to relate to her however makes
her relevent to our lives.... In order to keep her, this is what has
needed to happen.We have freed her not only for our sake, but for hers
as well. I have never seen a virgen that has laughed so loudly, and
beamed so wide. And now she is ours more than ever. --Rocio Carlos (3/26/01)
•No hagas
caso de la gente que pone a la religion sobre el arte. You are good
girl! You keep on doing what you're doing because you do it very well.
But anyway.... YOUR ART ROCKS! Keep it up! Y como decia mi abuelita,
no hagas caso de las malas lenguas, son puras envidias! --Lilia P. Nieto
(3/26/01) •I heard about your situacion through my mom who is a Mexicana, mas catolica y devota to la virgen morena. She actually saw your work on TV and was impressed! I woulld like to support your right to display and interpret your relationship to Guadalupe- as it is your perosnal/spiritual and artisitic right.... --Maria Figueroa, Profesora de English y Chicano Studies, San Diego City College (3/26/01)
•Is it possible
that we can all have a personal relationship and our own representation
of our favorite Santo? Apparently Señor Villegas does not think
so. He accuses Ms. Lopez of having produced blasphemous images and of
considering herself above the mores of her community and the Catholic
religion. But what el Señor Villegas is doing; falsely accusing
this artist, misunderstanding her ideas and presenting his own religious
beliefs as more legitimate that hers is more detrimental to "our
community," because his efforts will only stifle our communities
ability to process, deconstruct and articulate new ideas. It is inspiring
to see that Alma Lopez is not only making great contributions to the
artistic community with her honest, and personal representations but
she is also challenging Chicanos/Latinos religious or irreligious by
proposing new ways of looking at religious icons. --Claudia Rodriguez
for Tongues Magazine, Los Angeles, California (3/27)
•In the course
of my work it has not been uncommon to encounter the discomfort of students
and communities initially unfamiliar with Chicana feminist revisions
of religious figures.... These kinds of discussions are invaluable opportunities
to explore the spiritual dimensions of Chicana art, Chicana feminism,
the multiplicity and hybridity of Chicana/o communities, and the variety
of religious expression that has historically marked our communities.
Whenever this has come up in lectures or classrooms, I inevitably come
away richer in my own knowledge from the exchange--but that dialogue
would not have happened without either the willingness of participants
to talk out the discomfort rather than silence each other or without
the beautiful and provocative art that speaks of multiple experiences.
--Theresa Delgadillo, Assistant Professor, Women's Studies, University
of Arizona (3/27/01) •Many famous
artists never got the respect they deserved. People never take the time
to stand back and take a look at what an artist is trying to portray,
they just assume at first glance that they don't like it or that it
is offending. When really if they used the time they use to complain
they may see the same vision that you see in your paintings.... Keep
your heart painting the way it is!!! --Amy Rawls, Albuquerque, New Mexico
(3/27/01) •I loved
the Virgen piece, so nanny nanny boo boo to everyone who's having a
fit over it. WHATEVER. Hope you're holding up okay with all the negative
crap swirling around it. I've already e-mailed my support to the NM
gov., my state reps/senators AND sent a support letter to the local
Albuquerque Journal (which, interestingly, is not printing any letters
of support. hmmmm.) --Ev Schlatter, Albuquerque New Mexico (3/27/01)
•Alma..I
wish you the best...hang in there... --Serg Hernandez, Indian Oak Graphics
(3/27/01) •Getting
criticism for your depiction of Our lady of Guadalupe in a bikini? Good!
the lady is idolatry to begin with, any Christ centered Christian who
reads and studies the Bible knows that. You are a Catholic, but obviously
not a Christian. God tells his people to tear down the idols in their
lives. Putting the lady in a bikini is tearing down an idol. Go for
it!! I am a born again Christian, and with or without a bikini I spit
on any image of Our lady of Guadalupe, knowing full well I do so to
an Idol and with Gods full authority backing me up. --Norm Bishop, Santa
Fe, New Mexico (3/27/01) •Please do
not remove Alma Lopez's work from your exhibit. I think the main work
in question, "Our Lady" is a beautiful testament to her culture
and religious beliefs.... Even as a non-Catholic white woman I am inspired
and moved by her work. --Reannon M. Peterson Madison, Wisconsin (3/27/01)
•Undressing the Virgin, the protesters claim, is an affront to their Catholic faith.... Have they forgotten all those lactating Virgins proffering breasts to the Christ child in hundreds of traditional Catholic church art pieces? The angel holding up the figure is bare breasted. Shame! Have they forgotten all the little angels flying around in traditional paintings with their male organs showing! And then there is the black crescent moon, witchery they cry, brujería! If one looks at representations of the Virgin from colonial times to contemporary the moons are almost always black. No witchery here, just a dark moon.... The Press (The Albuquerque Journal) prints inflammatory editorials, lopsided news articles, and negative letters to the editor. The reasoned, positive letters never appear. --Dr. Tey Diana Rebolledo, Regents' Professor of Spanish & Chicano Literature, University of New Mexico (3/27/01)
•Her work
is deeply personal and, for me, speaks of a passion for life and its
deep mysteries. Her image of "Our Lady" is both breathtaking
in its daring eroticization of the sacred and stunning in its artistic
rendering of La Virgen. Alma Lopez's image at once summons the democratizing
history of La Virgen and the many ways that marginalized communities
have conceptualized her in their own image for their own sense of empowerment
in the midst of social denigration and cultural oppression. --David
Roman, Associate Professor, English and American Studies & Ethnicity,
University of Southern California (USC) (3/28/01)
•Those conservative
catholic activists are hot on your trail. Interesting that they have
jesus nearly naked with a little cloth over his privates hanging on
walls all over their homes and can't stand the sight of a holy woman's
skin, and especially the breasts that fed them! --Helen Lopez, Attorney,
Taos, New Mexico (3/28/01) •Where's
the separation of Church and State? Don't they know the cultural implications?
I'm really surprised by the ignorance! --Consuelo (3/28/01)
•As former
Tlahtoani (Spokesperson) of el Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlán
de Western Michigan University and former Coordinator of the MEChA Midwest
Autonomous Region (MMAR), I find nothing objectionable about "Our
Lady" or any of the other works included in the show. What I do
find objectionable, however, are the kneejerk reactions that the media
have so quickly portrayed as the people's voice.... What Alma López
has done has created a representation of La Virgen that relates to her
lived experiences and grounds her in a new Catholic spirituality. --Dylan
Miner, University of New Mexico (3/28/01)
•Wonderful.
What a strong, vibrant portrayal of La Virgen. Initially, very startling-
as women, as latinas we're conditioned to accept our sexuality in narrow
terms defined by others. Your Virgen is powerful- I can see why some
would be threatened. --Silvia Castellano (3/28/01)
•...I was
moved to research you and your work. I've set up a "Shrine-weblet"
to you and your "Our Lady" http://www.netcolony.com/arts/artfullee/almalopez/moifa.htm...
Just wanted to let you know I support you. Lee Walker, Los Angeles,
California (3/28/01) •Te deseamos
mucha suerte --Jane Brickner, Santa Fe, New Mexico (3/28/01) •I was immediately
struck by the magnificent technical ability of the artist. The composition
is masterful, the color renditions a visual delight that informs the
viewer that one is in the presence of one of the leading artists of
this nation. In her series on the Virgin of Guadalupe , her principal
theme is lesbianism, as currently exhibited in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
As such, Lopez reaches out to an all-loving god. However, her admirers
and followers seek the precise opposite, they seek not an all loving
god, but a punishing, fascistic god that mercilessly punishes the "pagans,"
very similar to the Mexico invading Spaniards who sought not only to
eliminate contrarians, but also alternatives. All of this is sad, for
I truly believe that the last thing in the mind of Alma Lopez is to
foster neo-fascism in a democracy. Yet, this appears to have been the
case. --Octavio I. Romano, Ph.D., Scholar/publisher, Quinto Sol Publications
(3/28/01) •I have been
a long time admirer of Lopez's work, both conceptually and in its technical
quality. She is one of the few Chicana artists that is leading the way
in the development of digital art and carving new territory within Chicano
aesthetics. --Tere Romo, Curator of Exhibitions, The Mexican Museum
(3/28/01) •I like the
way the Virgin looks like Lysa Flores! I wish she looked happier and
prouder, but certainly the flowers over her most feminine "secrets"
are a wonderful visual metaphor. --Therese Hernandez (3/28/01)
•As an academic who regularly studies art by Mexican Americans in research, writing and teaching, I find Ms.Lopez's work to be of great significance in examining issues of gender, sexuality and re-visioning of Mexican icons. The refashioning of the Virgin of Guadalupe is a very common motif in art by Chicanos and Chicanas. Many artists (and writers for that matter) have expressed their own personal relationships with this figure in their work. By re-visioning or even critiquing social aspects of Our Lady they are by no means disrespecting this figure. It is because they recognize its spiritual, social and cultural importance that they dedicate their talent and time to exploring its meanings, both traditional and new.... --Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano, Professor of Spanish, Stanford University (3/28/01)
•Artists
have dealt with the atrocities of war, depicting rapes, maiming, mass
deaths, abuse of children.... Some of the art will survive over the
ages and some will not. Yet it can be an essential part of the current
intellectual, political and emotional debates of our culture. --JoAnn
Anglin (3/29/01) •Would you
please ask ...[SF New Mexican reporter] Ann Constable to correct her
repeated, erroneous and inflammatory allegation that Alma Lopez's image
of the Virgin in the current exhibition at the International Museum
of Folk Art is "bikini clad." The artist herself describes
her subject as "a strong Virgen dressed in roses." --David
Fitelson (3/29/01) •By banning
Alma's art work, you're stripping her right as an artist, but also,
you're forcing her to express her love in the way YOU see fit. Or the
Church sees fit. Historically Latina women have been discouraged to
take part in the Church, and Alma's art is merely trying to narrow that
gap. She is trying to show that we can very well have a relationship
with La Virgen and be a part of a Church that hasn't in the past included
the brown woman's voice. --Nancy Loredo, East Los Angeles, California
(3/29/01) •The issue
is not so much about censorship, as it is our ability to have a civil
dialogue, and respect for the deep personal meaning inherent in an artists'
work. Having been a politician for a brief period in my career, I learned
that extremists come in many forms. And while their intentions are often
honorable, their actions should not be tolerated. --Dane F. Pollei,
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin (3/29/01)
•The good
news is that your work sparks dialogue--and makes an even larger impact
for raising consciousness about the kinds of policing that continues
to take place around gender in the name of organized religion. --Dionne
Espinoza, Assistant Professor, Women's Studies and Chicana/o Studies,
University of Wisconsin at Madison (3/29/01)
•Yesterday
afternoon I went to see Cyber Arte, and I think your work is wonderful.
If the Virgin is at work in the world today, she recognizes your strength,
intelligence, and humor. --Cheri Falkenstien-Doyle, Wheelwright Museum
of the American Indian, Santa Fe, New Mexico (3/29/01)
•UNM Spanish
professor Dr. Tey Diana Rebolledo presented the talk Las Claravidentes:
Chicana Artists and Writers, Gender, Ethnicity and Creativity at the
University Art Museum Wednesday as part of the Cultural Studies Colloquium.
Her speech focused on the work of Chicana artists Marie Romero Cash
and Alma López, creator of Our Lady, as well as two Chicana writers,
Pat Mora and Margarita Cota-Cárdenas. --Daily Lobo, University
of New Mexico (3/29/01) •We support
the position of the museum and the responsible way in which they are
handling the controversy. We applaud their ability to find a way to
both respond to protests by holding a public meeting and also to stand
by the free expression rights of the artist by leaving her work on display.
It is important to realize that such incidents are never isolated. --Svetlana
Mintcheva, Ph.D., National Coalition Against Censorship, New York, New
York (3/29/01) •I'm not
an art expert by any means, but I think your rendering of Guadalupe
is beautiful. Playful and exploratory, yes, but disrespectful and trashy?
Hardly. The people protesting MOIFA's showing of your piece aren't seeing
the grace you've put into your Guadalupe; instead they're gawking at
her flesh. --Jessica Nunn (3/29/01) •I went to
see your pieces and I must say it is very interesting! --Alex Baez (3/29/01)
•The Church
has not been respectful towards women and the challenges they face in
contemporary times. It has given us role models of passive, demure virgins
who look down. It has made us ashamed of our sexuality and independence.
Young people struggle to find representations they can relate to in
their search for spirituality. Certainly Alma Lopez's "Our Lady"
is such a search and it is a beautiful and powerful representation.
--Dr. Tey Diana Rebolledo, Regents' Professor of Spanish & Chicano
Literature, University of New Mexico (3/29/01)
•Don't let the bigots get you down. --Mary Ann Stoddard (3/29/01) |
