Latin American Culture And Visual Culture

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.

Diego Rivera was known for a muralist of the Mexican Social Realism. This movement was the brutality of WWI. It attacked capitalist. Rivera was a communist, he believed in the common ownership in social, political, and economic ideology that strived to maintain social order. One example of this

It can be argued that Mexican and Peruvian heritage have been influenced by African traditions and genealogy. During the 17th and 18th century, slaves were transported to Latin America. Within Latin America, slaves were expensive and viewed as a luxury, rather than a commodity. As a result of the high price of slaves; slaves would be treated with slight dignity within Mexican culture.

The Colombian culture is formed from the inheritance of the indigenous peoples present in the territory since ancient times, the Spanish traditions adopted during the colonial period and the African Customs incorporated by the slaves that led the conquistadors. This mixture of cultures constitutes a society with traits common to the rest of Latin American countries but, at the same time, very different also. Indeed, even within Colombia's own territory there are many differences between regions and others. Geographic diversity-can be found from tropical beaches to mountains of more than 5,000 meters in height with perpetual snows-and the natural isolation of some areas has led to this diversity. Some of the most important cultural groups according to their location are the so-called cops, located in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense; the countries, settled in Antioquia; The foresters, Settlers of the eastern plains; the Vallunos, settled in the area of Valle del Cauca; the coastal, inhabitants of the Caribbean coast, and the Santander, residents of the departments of Santander and Norte de Santander. All these groups are characterized by showing great cultural differences among themselves, which makes Colombia a fascinating country to know and enter into the day to day of its inhabitants.

After the Mexican Revolution, which took place from 1910 - 1920, Mexican art saw a change in the type of art being created. Although the focus of creating art with an indigenous and Mexican theme continued, the country saw a shift to art presenting socialist ideals. The government saw value in working with local artist and commissioning them to create murals that would influence their political agendas. However, what these murals mostly did was strengthen the Mexican culture and bring pride to the indigenous heritage. Although this time period has come and gone, its influence over Mexican art and culture is still very apparent today and can even be seen in Mexican American communities today.

A misperception of the global community is that countries are comprised of a single culture. In this compartmentalized worldview, a country has the same food, ideas, and traditions as if our national borders are the only aspect to define us. However, Mexico is far from a homogenized culture or identity; there is a myriad of differences within present day Mexico and the Mexican-American Community. In Chicago, the Westside neighborhood of Pilsen showcases the rich diversity of Mexican culture. Pilsen has changed hands as many immigrants thrived in its streets throughout the century and is now predominantly Latino/Mexican. The small neighborhood’s vibrant culture is encapsulated in the brilliantly colored painted murals featured on many building,

The culture I choose to explore is the Hispanic culture. I choose this culture because many of the people I work with and many of my friends identify with the Hispanic culture and I feel it would be interesting to know more about a culture that is so relevant to my life. A few of the big things in Hispanic culture that I found interesting are language, traditions and food. Hispanic refers to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture.

Murals are the quintessential public art embodying the spirit of the community in which they are created. They say this is who we are, this is what we think, this is where we come from, and this is what we want, reflecting most clearly any changes in the sociopolitical environment. Murals lay out a powerful visual image of the ideology of their creators or sponsors, be it the Church during the Renaissance, government funded projects, or individuals expressing opposition. In Mexico, after the Mexican Revolution of 1917, the government commissioned a vast number of mural projects to transmit its revisionist history of the country, and celebrate the empowerment of the underclass in their recent victory. Predominate themes were cultural

Ancient Mexico is a grandiose mural which represents the main events of Mexico’s history from the Pre-Columbian Period to Modern Time. The inspiration came to Diego Rivera, from the nationalist movement of his country. Therefore, the mural elements are prototypical of the painting style’s era. Physically the mural is located on the stairway of the Mexican National Palace, in Mexico City; which is the place where the Presidents work. This mural was commissioned at the end of the Mexican Revolution by the federal government. Moreover, this masterpiece depicts its era, considering that this was the dominating genre in the 1920’s, among the Mexican painters.

Society is made up of ordinary items that throughout the years are given value by outsiders, people who think outside of the world they are in, or by those, who are, from a different time period. Anthropologists have been able to study the differences in human cultures and how they have evolve. “There are now four major fields of anthropology: biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and archaeology” (Dennis O 'Neil). Within these fields are subfields, visual anthropology is a very important subfield of cultural anthropology. Visual anthropology is the study of the history of human customs and culture through what one sees or perceives in various types of media. Therefore, “…the use of visual material in anthropological research…is the study of visual systems and visible cultures” (Banks and Morphy). Since media is seen as a representation of the truth, it is reasonable to say that it plays a major role in the accurate views of how society is. There are two categories in which I would like to describe how visual anthropology tries to describe human culture and custom: images and objects.

Every culture has their own unique and distinguishing characteristics. One’s cultural identity defines who they are as an individual, group, and community. Their cultural identity may be reflected in numerous ways such as: language, communication styles, religion, beliefs, values, clothing, or other types of aesthetic markers. Cultural identity is formed by many of these traits but is not limited to these specifically. This essay will provide detailed information on Mexican Americans, and their ancestry and heritage. I will also explain about this cultures central beliefs and values, while incorporating information on Mexican Americans, cultural patterns, cultural identity, and their cultures communication characteristics and styles.

Hispanic art, food, and entertainment all have a common theme; they are all fun, light-hearted, yet fulfilling and rich in cultural heritage. On one side, Mexican culture in particular loves to make fun of itself. There are many depictions in song and art of lazy Mexicans in large sombreros with thick mustaches eating burritos. On the other hand artists like Diego Rivera paint large murals depicting rich historical events like the revolution, in bold colors on controversial topics (This Old, n.d.).

To begin addressing this assignment first I must define what art is throughout the weeks I have been enrolled in “Art and Architecture of Latin America.” To me what I have come to interpret is that art doesn’t necessarily have to involve paper, pencil or paint. Art is something that receives public reaction or that it can relate to someone. For example, take the drawings of Diego Rivera. One of his most famous works named “History of Mexico from the Conquest to the Future” can be found in Fresco, National Palace, Mexico City relates to his people's lives. Why you may ask? Well if you look closely to his drawings it shows the history of Mexico since the conquest of the Spaniards to the revolutions that emerged throughout Spaniard rule up until

Bright colors jumping at you asking for attention, images so real viewers can not tell the difference. These are the thoughts that came to my head as I gazed at two works of art by two Mexican artists at MoLAA museum of art . I visited two museums, Bowers Museum of cultural Art in the heart of Southern California and the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach for my report unfortunately I only liked the works in MoLAA and will talk about it through out my paper. I will talk about two Mexican artists Rafael Cauduro and David Alfaro Siqueros that caught my eye, and made me want to learn more of them and their approach to art. Siqueiros caught my eye and interest because according to his biography “no

Women of Latin American culture have incessantly ensued the potent gender roles that have become a social construction of their society over innumerable decades. The profound author of Insurgent Mexico, John Reed, imparts his experiences with the revolutionary leaders of the Mexican Revolution, like Pancho Villa, and was able to witness their culture and more specifically the roles these Mexican women were forced to render by their chauvinistic counterparts. This period of revolution, started to grant women new mantles usually reserved only for men, like participating in fighting for the success of the revolution; any preeminent changes would soon approach, but in the meantime Mexican society run by men enjoyed the regulated traditional