ABSTRACT
Latina/o pop art’s exclusion from the field of contemporary art has put it in the perfect position to cause desmadre. The extent of its exclusion is evident in the process of research: one has to look outside the field of contemporary art to examine the breadth of Latina/o pop art’s history and diversity. It is often lost in the confounding intersections of identity that curators fail to understand (“is this art representative of New Yorkers, or Puerto Ricans?”). Latina/o pop art is confined to the subsections of “ethnic” or “alternative” art and is considered to be incompatible with the values of mainstream America. Due to its exclusion from museums, media coverage, and funding, Latina/o pop art has undertaken a struggle that challenges the facets of American society that make this exclusion possible. The work of Los Angeles-based art group Asco confronts contemporary art and demands to be included or else. When the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) was asked why there was no Chicana/o art in the region’s public art institution, a curator replied, “Chicanos don’t make art, they’re in gangs.” In response, the group spray-painted the front of the museum creating the legendary piece, Spray Paint LACMA (Shaked 1059). Similarly, many Latina/o pop artists’ work is fueled from this exclusion: “The images reveal what seems to be a love/hate relationship, a desire not quite to participate and not exactly to overthrow” (Shaked 1060). Their critique of the exclusion of Latina/o culture (vandalizing a museum) has become the base upon which artists create a celebration of Latina/o culture (making that vandalism into a piece of art) and has come to define contemporary Latina/o pop art.
