The Next Diegos

Just after Mexico gained its independence from Spain and sought to identify its culture through art, the government commissioned three young artists to paint murals on public buildings as expressions of the social and cultural identities of Mexico. They became the best-known trinity in Mexican art history – Diego Rivera, Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros – but at the time they were still 34, 37, and 24 years old, respectively, and the commission gave them valuable exposure early in their careers.

Mexic-Arte Museum has been keeping this tradition alive in Austin for a decade now with its annual “Young Latino Artists” exhibition (better known as “YLA,” pronounced why-lay like grito “orale”). This year, six Mexican-Americans under the age of 35 will showcase their works in various media, including prints, paintings, assemblages, and installations.

“I wasn’t trying to box them into a theme. I wanted to show artwork that was pretty strong by itself,” says “YLA No. 10” curator Ben Fyffe, currently assistant head of education at the El Paso Museum of Art. Fyffe, who’s still under 30 himself, studied art history at UT-Austin and worked for five years with the Austin Museum of Art. During his time here, he says, “I don’t think there was ever a year that I missed ‘YLA.’ I was honored that I was recommended.”

A close look at the artwork reveals a minute subtext of ethnicity, origin, and culture from some artists, while others give a good grito to their Chicanismo. For example, Claudia Rojas, a native Texan living in Juarez, Mexico, displays a prayer box filled with cards. “She explores leaving college and her uncertainties of transitioning between Texas and Mexico. I found it very appropriate to Austin,” says Fyffe.

Ricky Armendariz, an associate professor at UT-San Antonio, includes some of his panoramic paintings. These landscapes can be compared to Americana decorated with Mexican sayings and imagery.

Nick Muñoz’s six assemblages use “spray paint in a different way than what’s been seen in Chicano history,” says Fyffe. Unlike most Chicano graffiti, with its “call for greater political awareness,” Muñoz plays with geometric forms in a classical style that’s “kind of Renaissance,” says Fyffe.

But Brandon Gonzalez’s installation is an interpretation of wearing your intimates in public. Gonzalez asked some teenagers to write their life stories in permanent marker on a white cotton outfit. Fyffe says, “He gets the viewers thinking about what they’re comfortable revealing.”

Mexic-Arte believes that “YLA” offers the next generation of great artists an opportunity to take their careers to the next level. “If you’re emerging out of college, it’s very difficult to get into a museum,” notes museum public relations director Jason Rivera (also under 30). “This helps them get that chance, get their feet wet, put our organization onto a résumé. We feel like [these artists] have the potential to be the next Diego Rivera.”

This article appears in July 8 • 2005.