John Shnabel

The portrayal and the representation of the Chicano Art Movements are entrenched by the Mexican-American artist who institute artistic personalities and identities in the United States. The plenteous amount of the artist is massively influenced by the immense Chicano Movement (El Movimiento) which, was established in the 1960’s. The influence of Chicano Art was due to the Mexican- Revolution philosophy, art of Pre-Columbia and indubitably European techniques of painting, cultural, social, political issues. The movement took a stand to fight against stereotypes of Mexican- Americans conducive and to resist typical social norms. The movement to concentrate on awareness of collective history, equal opportunity, grants and social mobility. Chicanos have used the movement in pursuit of expressing their cultural values. Ever since it first appeared in America the art of Chicanos has matured to illustrate common struggle and social issues in conjunction with uniting the youth of the Chicano people to their culture and history. Chicano Art is not only Mexican- American artwork; it further emphasizes and accentuates the histories of the Chicano people in a superb and sublime way of American art.

Both of these paintings show the love and desire to hold on to ones heritage and family traditions which is extremely important in Hispanic families. Both with vivid colors and images. In Kahlo’s “Self Portrait on the Border Line Between Mexico and the United States”, even though she is a Mexican woman living in a non-Mexican country, she is able to accept both sides and hold on to her own Mexican heritage and culture which it seems she preferred. In Garza’s “Camas Para Sueños”(Beds for Dreams), Garza is showing the love and closeness she had with her sister and how her mother allowed them to dream and reach after those dreams as they kept

Growing up near a city filled with museums, I was lucky enough to be exposed to amazing works of art. My visits to the Frick Collection, housed in one of the only remaining Gilded Age mansions in New York, have clearly been my favorite throughout the years. In that special ambiance, I discovered the glowing and extraordinarily clear tranquil paintings of Johannes Vermeer. I was drawn to the three Vermeer masterpieces in the permanent exhibit. The personal qualities of both the mansion and the paintings captured my fascination and I returned frequently. With extraordinary clarity, Vermeer was able to capture objects precisely through light and space. At first I wasn’t sure why his paintings appeared so different from the other works of his time, but I soon realized they were infused with light and

They may be border in thick, Reich frames, and always have a smooth, finished quality to them. Many of his works pay homage to the great artists such as Bosch and Ingres, or the little girls in his works can struck a haunting connection to the nymphs painted by classicist artists. It is this connection to history which again reflects a person's comfort with the known and familiar, and turns it into something confronting by pulling it from its original context.

Recognized for her eccentric, vivid paintings, Frida Kahlo was one of Mexico’s most notable artists. While observers may find themselves mesmerized by her work, some may not realize the intimacy and profound emotion behind each painting. Kahlo was an artist who utilized painting as an outlet for the physical and emotional suffering she endured throughout her life. From health complications to a troublesome marriage, these adversities would influence Frida’s painting style and content. Decades after her death, her expressive artwork continues to illustrate the vigor and beauty of emotion.

Heffernan’s paintings express her untamed imagination with majestic fantasy, dream-like subjects, yet she paints with a very classic technique. When I first viewed The Self Portrait as Wunderkabinett, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel came to mind. Michelangelo illustrates the desire and describes the oneness that humans anticipate with God through salvation. The artists painting technique is traditional, with the sensible and realistic proportions of the human body, the distinguishing lines, the application of shadow, the intricate detail on every object within the painting, and the use of traditional complementary color pairs.

Even in today’s age, the subject of the paintings (often nude, German women) were somewhat shocking due to the aggressive, almost violent lines. The emotions evoked by these pieces parallel the uneasy, tense times of early 20th century Germany, which drove the artists to break free of the conformist aesthetic of the time, and paint the world through their eyes.

Throughout the ages, humans from all over the world have created and accepted honorable cultures which they feel a strong connection to and are dependent upon. One’s way of living demonstrates nationality, religion, ethnicity, and art. People who have more than one culture, have been torn between two worlds that have eventually affected their lives. The cultural identities portrayed in both Self Portrait: On the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States by Frida Kahlo and “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora are shown through the symbolism, theme/message, and persona created in the works.

Frida Kahlo's life and paintings continue to captivate the world. Her paintings contain powerful undertones of many provocative social issues that deal with themes ranging from feminism to cultural pride, though also support her own healing process. Her vivid paintings resonate with so many because of how personal they truly are. In Frida, A Biography of Frida Kahlo, Herrera writes “both the strength and the emphasis on suffering pervade Frida’s paintings” (Herrera, 76). In her paintings, Time Flies, and The Broken Column, we see how Frida paints in a style that support both her political convictions, but also express her inner suffering through the use of thematic anguish, strength, and peculiarity in her paintings. Kahlo’s unique style, accentuated her love of Mexican culture, with her use of the classic Folkloric dress. Regardless of her accident at an early age, Kahlo seemed to thrive around others, always with an uplifted spirit, and never letting her early troubles turn into a tragedy.

Her paintings represented “the cultural nationalism of [Mexico]” (Meadows). She had a strong artistic style in which she showed her Mexican patriotism and her communist ideals. In addition, she also made political statements on the U.S. and the industrialization.

Many types of paintings exist in the world. While many are old, others are relatively new and therefore are less famous. An original piece is the sum of an artist’s life’s work, often containing a story unique to the viewer. Art is a language, a snapshot of history, created by the artist. In a sense, the artist is an author, who makes a point, or showcases certain hardships and tragedies. The author has built a various network of roads, and the viewer is following the roads that suit their own journey through the artwork. Where these paintings are original and unique, many artists make copies of these paintings, known as reproductions. In John Berger's Ways of Seeing, Berger states that reproductions detract from the value of the paintings

The film opens to a young woman recklessly driving a BMW down a mountain highway. After being hit by two trucks, she dies (this whole ordeal is interspersed throughout the movie).

Mexican artists, more than most other artists in the Americas, exemplify the political and social obligations of artists. According to Soltes (2011), several Mexican artists of the early twentieth century were inspired by the revolutions and political unrest occurring in Mexico, which was reflected in their work. Diego Rivera (1886-1957) considered one of Mexico’s Renaissance artists, influenced by European avant-garde style, painted Zapatista Landscape (1915). This work was done as Rivera’s tribute to the Mexican revolutionary “Emiliano Zapata who had played a key role in the 1910 Mexican Revolution that had overthrown the then President Porfirio Diaz” (Soltes, L43, 4:42). Soltes (2011) describes this work: “very clearly we see a rifle; we see it's a sarape, together with a very stylized backdrop of water, mountains and sky, punctuated by a work that seems largely to emulate the synthetic cubist style of Picasso and Braque that we've earlier discussed. One has the allusion indeed, that we are looking at a collage of geometric forms made of diverse materials imposed against that background of vague sea and sky”(L43, 4:13).

John J. Crittenden was the senator, born in Kentucky, who proposed the Crittenden Compromise, a proposal for a compromise between the Northern and southern States. The Crittenden Compromise proposed that there should be states that have slavery and that satisfy the southern demands but that the Missouri Compromise line should be redrawn. Although the southern states were willing to agree with this compromise, the northern states and the Republican Party were against this compromise for allowing future expansion of slavery and slave states. The Republican Party was unable to agree with this compromise since it did not solve the issue of slavery and the fugitive slave laws; the only difference this compromise provided was the reconfiguration of the Missouri Compromise line, which separated the slave and free states. John J. Crittenden was significant because his compromise was not able to be agreed upon by the South and the North; the break or the failure of this compromise further angered both sides of the United States.

There are thousands of sport teams, from high school to professional, that have mascots that reference Native American culture. In an increasingly diverse and conscientious American culture, the question still stands is it appropriate for teams to continue to use mascots that appropriate another culture? John Barr reminds us that “I think that what I would encourage you to do and everyone else to do is just look at the history, understand where the name came from, understand that it means… honor, it means respect, it means pride. And it’s that simple” (Wulf). Barr’s point is that when teams pick this name it is an honor to be called a Native American name. In Barr’s point I would highly agree with him because, my family takes heart to that.