Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art

Is Latino art an integral part of modern American art? Presenting over one hundred major artworks from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Our America seeks to recalibrate enduring concepts about American national culture by exploring how one group of artists-those of Latin American descent and heritage-express their relationship to American art, history, and culture. E. Carmen Ramos addresses the whole issue of the definition of Latino art and how this emerged within the context of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s as American artists of Latino descent (Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban American, and, more recently, Dominican) began to give a tangible face to their culture and history. Highlights include an installation altar by Amalia Mesa-Bains, the recycled films of Raphael Montanez Ortiz, and a 1960 geometric painting by Carmen Herrera. Other notable artists include Olga Albizu, Melesio Mel Casas, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Margarita Cabrera, Enrique Chagoya, Teresita Fernandez, Ken Gonzales-Day, Luis Jimenez, Ana Mendieta, Pepon Osorio, Sophie Rivera, Freddy Rodriguez, and John M. Valadez, among many others. Colour photos