Artist: Alma Lopez
Exhibition Dates: November 11, 2000 – January 19, 2001
IN HEAVEN…
Love is heaven. Yet, growing up, we are told that when we participate in acts which have been labeled perverted, deviant, or sinful, we are going to hell. In Heaven a young woman rejects the institutionalized religious patriarchal system and gazes at her lover’s image in the golden heart brought to her by an angel. This image was created in the tradition of a retablo or ex-voto, which is a Mexican prayer painting typically done on tin. The retablo lends itself to an intimacy portraying personal themes that are important and sacred.
THERE WAS A PRINCESS AND A PRINCESA...
According to the Aztec legend, Popocapetl wanted to marry the Princess Ixtaccihuatl but to do so he had to earn his warrior feathers in battle. Upon his triumphant return, he finds that Ixta, believing he had died in battle, killed herself. Grieving, he takes her lifeless body in his arms to the highest mountains in Mexico so that the snowflakes would wake her. But she never wakes up and they both remained frozen, forming the now two famous snow-covered volcanoes in Mexico. Growing up in El Sereno, a neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles, I would see this image of Popo & Ixta on murals, lowrider cars, and Low Rider magazine. Every December, the local bakery or restaurant would give our family at least one calendar with the image of this Mexican Romeo & Juliet myth. As an artist, I asked my two friends Cristina Serna and Mirna Tapia to help me recreate this familiar myth however, the two princesas are on the US / Mexico border.
AND THE STORY CONTINUES…
Even as I attempted to return to previous work such as my original project of 1848, images such as Lupe & Sirena in Love persisted. After some thought, I realized that these images were important to me in that they address and challenge images that I grew up with in my neighborhood. I am "re-imagining" these cultural icons from my own worldview as a Chicana Lesbian. For example, Ixta is a re-interpretation of the sexy Ixta draped over strong Popo’s arms as seen in murals or calendars. Tattoo refers to the tattooed men that have the image of the Virgin on their bodies. Mexican votive paintings inspired Retablo and Heaven. Old photographs of married couples are included in Pix. Diego, December 12, and Our Lady touch upon the myth of the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Juan Diego.
My life is special because it is shared with beautiful family and friends. This work was possible with the love and encouragement of so many friends, especially those beautiful beings who shared their body-image and a little soul-spirit: Jill A. Aguilar (Tattoo); Raquel Gutierrez & Raquel Salinas (Our Lady); Cristina Serna & Mirna Tapia (Ixta); Claudia Rodriguez & Stacy Macias (Heaven); Rigo Maldonado (Diego); and Noni Olabisi (Pix). Super special thanks to Raquel Gutierrez who posed for me for hours in the beginning when I was figuring things out. Special thanks to my dear friends and editors, Maria Elena Fernandez and Reina A. Prado, and my printer Pedro Rios Martinez. The Lupe & Sirena series was funded by a C.O.L.A. (City of Los Angeles) Individual Artist grant from the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, the California Community Foundation’s Brody Visual Artist Fellowship, and a California Arts Council Artist in Residency.
http://home.earthlink.net/~almalopez
Press Release
Dec 13, 2000
URGENTE: GALERIA DE LA RAZA IS THE TARGET OF ANONYMOUS ATTACKS
Since the Galería de la Raza began its new era with more experimental
programming that pushed its established cultural and aesthetic boundaries, attendance
and media attention have increased considerably. Galería is once again
an important player in the cultural life of the city. However, several apparently
unrelated attacks have targeted Galería's staff and programming over
the last months.
-On the weekend of December 1st, Heaven, the digital mural at Galería’s
public mural space by L.A. artist Alma Lopez was defaced. The mural contains
poetic and spiritual images of love between two Latina women. Alma describes
her work as follows: "Spirituality and sexuality both exist within me… to
separate them is impossible… The work I do comes from my heart and is not
meant to disrespect or offend." The defacement of the mural includes a biblical
reference to the book of Galatians and a comment referring to "colored imitators
of white man's enfatuations with one’s own genitals."
-On the same day that Heaven was defaced, an artist affiliated with Galería
received threatening, homophobic emails from an alleged religious group.
Currently, the Human Rights Commission and the Hate Violence Unit of the
SFPD are investigating
these emails.
-That same week, the store window of Studio 24 was shot through with what appeared
to be a BB gun.
-Ese: One Last Mexican Discovered in the Mission, the previous mural that addressed
anti-displacement issues, was also defaced with anti-gay slogans.
This string of incidents is reminiscent of the vandalism and death threats
to Galería's staff that occurred at Galería in 1997 during the showing
of Alex Donis' "My Cathedral," an exhibit which addressed queer
politics, history and desire.
These actions can only exacerbate the racism, sexism and homophobia that
justify hate violence. It is unfortunate that certain individuals feel it
is their
right to deface public art works and send anonymous hate mail or email threats
without
making any attempts at engaging in progressive dialogue. Galería is dedicated
to providing a space for art work that challenges our community in productive
and beneficial ways. Galería's programming reflects the belief that democratic
values thrive when diversity is respected and embraced. We understand that struggles
fought by people of color, queer people, the working class and immigrants are
not independent of each other. When hate violence is directed at our cultural
institutions, at our diverse communities and at artists’ freedom of
expression, the entire community suffers a loss. Panic politics and cultural
terrorism
prevent us from facing the true problems we have in our communities.