Resisting Categories: Latin American and/or Latino?

Description

This first volume of the Critical Documents of 20th-Century Latin American and Latino Art series published by the International Center for the Arts of the Americas at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents 168 crucial texts written by influential artists, critics, curators, journalists, and intellectuals whose writings shed light on questions relating to what it means to be "Latin American" and/or "Latino." Reinforced within a critical framework, the documents address converging issues, including: the construct of "Latin-ness" itself; the persistent longing for a continental identity; notions of Pan–Latin Americanism; the emergence of collections and exhibitions devoted specifically to "Latin American” or "Latino" art; and multicultural critiques of Latin American and Latino essentialism. The selected documents, many of which have never before been published in English, span from the late fifteenth century to the present day. They encompass key protagonists of this comprehensive history as well as unfamiliar figures, revealing previously unknown facets of the questions and issues at play. The book series complements the thousands of seminal documents now available through the ICAA Documents of 20th-Century Latin American and Latino Art digital archive, http://icaadocs.mfah.org. Together they establish a much-needed intellectual foundation for the exhibition, collection, and interpretation of art produced in Latin America and among Latino populations in the United States. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword Funders of the ICAA Digital Archive Project and Book Series Acknowledgments Critical Documents of 20th-Century Latin American and Latino Art: A DIGITAL ARCHIVE AND PUBLICATIONS PROJECT AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON Project Administration, Staff, and Consultants A Brief Guide to Using Volume I: NOTES ON THE SELECTION, PRESENTATION, EDITING, AND ANNOTATION OF TEXTS Resisting Categories I. THE CONTINENTAL UTOPIA The Continental Utopia I.1 AMERICA AS A UTOPIAN REFRACTION I.1.1 Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered in the Indian Sea I.1.2 Utopia I.1.3 New Atlantis I.1.4 Machu Picchu: The Discovery I.1.5 The Christening of America I.1.6 The March of Utopias I.1.7 The Invention of America I.2 THE INVENTION OF AN OPERATIVE CONCEPT I.2.1 The Latin American States I.2.2 Ancient and Modern Mexico I.2.3 The Latin Democracies in America I.2.4 To what extent is there a Latin America? I.2.5 Latin America I.2.6 Does Latin America Exist? I.2.7 Luis Alberto Sánchez’s Book: Is There Just One Latin America? I.2.8 Latin American Unity I.2.9 Does Latin America Exist? I.2.10 The Invention of an Operative Concept: The Latin-ness of America I.2.11 Latin America: An Introduction to Far-Western Identity I.3 NUESTRA AMÉRICA, THE MULTI-HOMELAND I.3.1 Letter from Lope de Aguirre, Rebel, to King Philip of Spain I.3.2 Reply of a South American to a Gentleman of this Island (Jamaica) I.3.3 The Latin American Multi-Homeland I.3.4 Our America I.3.5 Latin America—Evils of Origin (Summary) I.3.6 Latin American Perspectives I.3.7 The Creation of a Continent I.3.8 Letter to the Youth of Colombia I.3.9 The Beginnings of an American Culture I.4 IS AMÉRICA A NO-PLACE? I.4.1 Latin America—Evils of Origin (Conclusion) I.4.2 Indology I.4.3 First Message to Hispanic America I.4.4 Guardians of the Quill I.4.5 The Destiny of America I.4.6 The Actual Function of Philosophy in Latin America I.5 TENSIONS AT STAKE I.5.1 Latin America I.5.2 Toward an Efficient Latin America I.5.3 Barren Imperialism I.5.4 Which Culture Will Create Latin America: The Mexican Parameter or the Argentinean One? I.5.5 Autochtonism and Europeanism I.5.6 Americanism and Peruvianism I.5.7 The Anthropophagous Manifesto I.6 DOES BRAZIL BELONG TO LATIN AMÉRICA? I.6.1 Brazil in the Americas I.6.2 The Disconnection of America I.6.3 The Cordial Man, an American Product I.6.4 The Roots of Brazil: Frontiers of Europe I.6.5 The Roots of Brazil: The Sower and the Bricklayer I.6.6 What Does Latin America Mean? I.6.7 Brazilians and Our America II. A NEW ART A New Art II.1 A NEW ART FOR A NEW CONTINENT II.1.1 A Visit to the Exhibition at [The School] of Fine Arts II.1.2 Three Appeals for the Current Guidance of the New Generation of American Painters and Sculptors II.1.3 Eurindia II.1.4 Art Interpretations II.1.5 The New Art II.1.6 New World, New Races, New Art II.1.7 Lesson 132: The American Man and the Art of the Americas II.2 SURVEYS CONCERNING A CONTINENTAL ATTITUDE II.2.1–II.2.7 A SURVEY: WHAT SHOULD AMERICAN ART BE? (1928–29) II.2.1 Response to revista de avance Survey II.2.2 Response to revista de avance Survey II.2.3 Response to revista de avance Survey II.2.4 Response to revista de avance Survey II.2.5 Response to revista de avance Survey II.2.6 Response to revista de avance Survey II.2.7 State of an Investigation II.2.8 Apex of the New Taste II.2.9 Our Surveys: Painting in Latin America, What Luis Felipe Noé has to Say II.3 HARBINGERS OF THE NEW ART II.3.1–II.3.2 XUL SOLAR ON PETTORUTI II.3.1 Pettoruti and His Works II.3.2 Pettoruti II.3.3–II.3.4 ON CARLOS MÉRIDA II.3.3 Images of Guatemala II.3.4 Carlos Mérida: Essay on the Art of the Tropics II.3.5 Pablo Picasso: First Spiritual Unifier of Latin America II.3.6 Modern Mexican Painting II.3.7 Sabogal in Mexico III. THE GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD AND BAD TIMES The Good Neighborhood and Bad Times III.1 THE MONROE DOCTRINE: A PRECURSOR TO PAN AMERICANISM III.1.1 Annual Message: The Monroe Doctrine III.1.2 The American Illusion III.1.3 The Ailing Continent III.1.4 Europe and Latin America: Current Opinion and Consequences of European Malevolence III.1.5 Landings: Culture and Hispano-Americanism III.1.6 Bolivár-ism and Monroe-ism: Hispanic-Americanism and Pan Americanism III.1.7 The Latin American Essays: Newton Freitas III.1.8 The Puerto Rican Personality in the Commonwealth III.2 HALF-WORLDS IN CONFLICT III.2.1 Ariel: The Idea of Nordomania III.2.2 The American Half-Worlds III.2.3 Americanism and Hispanicism III.2.4 Edward Weston and Tina Modotti III.2.5 Art and Pan Americanism III.2.6 Latin American Unity: A Battle Of Diplomacy in San Francisco III.2.7 Caliban: A Question III.3 INSIGHTS FROM LATIN AMERICA ON U.S. ART AND SOCIETY III.3.1 Art in the United States III.3.2 Comrades in Chicago III.3.3 My Opinion on the North American Artists’ Exhibition III.3.4 Impressions from My Visit to the United States of North America III.3.5 Letter from New York III.4 THE UNITED STATES “PRESENTS” AND “COLLECTS” LATIN AMERICAN ART III.4.1 – III.4.2 CONFERENCE ON INTER-AMERICAN RELATIONS IN THE FIELD OF ART III.4.3 – 4.5 LATIN AMERICAN EXHIBITION OF FINE ARTS, 1940 III.4.3 Message to the Latin American Exhibition of Fine Arts III.4.4 Introduction to Latin American Exhibition of Fine Arts III.4.5 Foreword to Latin American Exhibition of Fine Arts III.4.6 The Latin American Collection of the Museum of Modern Art III.4.7 – 4.8 PROCEEDINGS OF A CONFERENCE HELD AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, MAY 28–31, 1945 III.4.7 Problems of Research and Documentation in Contemporary Latin American Art III.4.8 Contemporary Regional Schools in Latin America III.4.9 Traveling Exhibitions of Latin American Art Available for Circulation in the United States III.4.10 The United States Collects Pan American Art IV. LONGING AND BELONGING Longing and Belonging IV.1 STRADDLING A CULTURAL DOCTRINE IV.1.1 Introduction: “La Plebe” IV.1.2 The Cosmic Race: Grounds for a New Civilization IV.1.3 The Historical and Intellectual Presence of Mexican-Americans IV.1.4 Chicano Art IV.2 A DOSE OF SKEPTICISM IV.2.1–IV.2.2 MARTA TRABA IV.2.1 What Does “A Latin American Art” Mean? IV.2.2 Art’s Problems in Latin America IV.2.3 The Emergent Decade: Latin American Painters and Painting in the 1960s IV.2.4 Art of Latin America Since Independence IV.2.5– IV.2.6 THE “QUESTION” CONCERNING LATIN AMERICAN ART IV.2.5 The Question of Latin American Art: Does It Exist? IV.2.6 “The Question” 17 Years Later IV.2.7– IV.2.8 ARTES VISUALES ASKS: “WHEN WILL THE ART OF LATIN AMERICA BECOME LATIN AMERICAN ART?” IV.2.7 In Reply to A Question: “When will the art of Latin America become Latin American art?” IV.2.8 Comments on the Article by Damián Bayón IV.2.9 Why a Latin American Art? IV.3 OUR JANUS-FACED DILEMMA: IDENTITY OR MODERNITY? IV.3.1 The Problem of the “Existence” of the Latin American Artist IV.3.2 Identity or Modernity? IV.3.3 The Invention of Latin American Art IV.3.4 The Visual Arts in a Consumer Society IV.3.5 Toward a New Artistic Problem in Latin America IV.3.6 The Specificity of Latin American Art IV.3.7 The Nostalgia for History in the Visual Imagination of Latin America IV.3.8 Modern Art in Latin America IV.4 DEBATING IDENTITY ON A CONTINENTAL SCALE IV.4.1– IV.4.3 SPEAK OUT! CHARLA! BATE-PAPO!: CONTEMPORARY ART AND LITERATURE IN LATIN AMERICA, SYMPOSIUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, OCTOBER 1975 IV.4.1 Latin American Art Today Does and Does Not Exist as a Distinct Expression IV.4.2 Latin America: A Culturally Occupied Continent IV.4.3 We Are Latin Americans: The Way of Resistance IV.4.4– IV.4.7 THE ETSEDRÓN DEBATE: THE 13TH SÃO PAULO BIENNIAL, OCTOBER 1975 IV.4.4 Etsedrón: A Form of Violence IV.4.5 Etsedrón: Comments on the Article by Aracy A. Amaral IV.4.6 Etsedrón, or the Lack of Libidinous Interest in Reality IV.4.7 The Necessary Plurality of Latin American Art IV.4.8– IV.4.9 CONTROVERSIES AND PAPERS: SYMPOSIUM OF THE FIRST LATIN AMERICAN BIENNIAL OF SÃO PAULO IV.4.8 First Latin American Biennial of São Paulo IV.4.9 Why Do We Fear Latin Americanism? IV.4.10–IV.4.11 A FIRST CRITICAL ENCOUNTER WITH ARTISTS AND THE VISUAL ARTS: AN INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM, MUSEO DE BELLAS ARTES, JUNE 1978 IV.4.10 Alternatives for Current Latin American Painting IV.4.11 Questions V. DESTABILIZING CATEGORIZATIONS Destabilizing Categorizations V.1 EXHIBITING ENTRENCHED REPRESENTATIONS V.1.1–V.1.2 HISPANIC AMERICAN ART IN CHICAGO, CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY GALLERY, 1980 V.1.1 Hispanic-American Art in Chicago V.1.2 Some Thoughts Concerning the Exhibit of Hispanic Art in Chicago V.1.3–V.1.7 HISPANIC ART IN THE UNITED STATES: THIRTY CONTEMPORARY PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS, MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON, 1987 V.1.3 Hispanic Art in the United States V.1.4 Art And Identity: Hispanics in the United States V.1.5 Homogenizing Hispanic Art V.1.6 The Poetics and Politics of Hispanic Art: A New Perspective V.1.7 Minorities and Fine-Arts Museums in the United States V.1.8 The Latin American Spirit V.1.9 Art of the Fantastic V.1.10 Latin American Artists of the Twentieth Century V.2 QUESTIONING STEREOTYPES V.2.1 Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano Art: Two Views V.2.2 Turning It Around: A Conversation V.2.3 On Our Own Terms V.2.4 Latin American Art’s U.S. Explosion: Looking A Gift Horse in the Mouth V.2.5 “Fantastic” are the Others V.2.6 Beyond “The Fantastic”: Framing Identity in U.S. Exhibitions of Latin American Art V.2.7 Latin American Cultures: Mimicry or Difference VI. THE MULTICULTURAL SHIFT The Multicultural Shift VI.1 IDEOLOGY BETWEEN TWO WATERS VI.1.1 Border Culture: The Multicultural Paradigm VI.1.2 Mixing VI.1.3 Living Borders/Buscando América: Languages of Latino Self-Formation VI.1.4 Between Two Waters: Image and Identity in Latino-American Art VI.1.5 Multi-Correct Politically Cultural VI.1.6 The Chicano Movement/The Movement Of Chicano Art VI.1.7 Barricades of Ideas: Latino Culture, Site Specific Installation and the U.S. Art Museum VI.1.8 Aesthetic Moments of Latin Americanism VI.2 THE TRANSNATIONAL MISE-EN-SCÈNE VI.2.1 Facing the Americas VI.2.2–VI.2.3 CARTOGRAPHIES VI.2.2 Latin America: Another Cartography VI.2.3 Incomplete Glossary of Sources of Latin American Art VI.2.4 Signs of a Transnational Fable VI.2.5 Latin American Art’s International Mise-En-Scène: Installation and Representation VI.2.6 Empowering the Local VI.2.7 From Latin American Art to Art from Latin America EDITORS’ BIOGRAPHIES RESEARCHER AND TRANSLATOR CREDITS INDEX COPYRIGHT CREDITS