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La Virgen de Guadalupe

Over the years, la Virgen de Guadalupe has been used by Chicana artists to explore themes of repression and feminine strength. She has become a symbol through which artists have attempted to eradicate the stigmas facing women’s place in society and ownership of their bodies. Alma López, Margarita “Mita” Cuaron, Yolanda López and Ester Hernandez are two Chicana feminist artists who used reinterpretations of La Virgen de Guadalupe to empower Chicanas. La Virgen as a symbol of the challenges Chicanas face as a result of the unique oppression they experience religiously, culturally and through their gender.'

• Alma López focuses on eradicating the stigmas surrounding women. She painted “Our Lady” in 1999, which portrays a modern Virgen de Guadalupe unclothed, supported by an unclothed “angel” with the wings of a monarch . La Virgen wears nothing but flowers, but stands powerfully with her hands at her hips and her face expressing confidence and seriousness. She has reimagined the traditional icon to explore the shamelessness she believes should stem from a women of today who does not conform to the expectation of society. Especially since La Virgen his typically clothed from head to toe, this piece of art challenges the themes the original pushes forward, including modesty and subservience.  She expresses the need for ownership of the indigenous body. Alma López also painted “Lupe and Sirena in Love” in 1999, which depicts the traditional Virgen de Guadalupe, nicknamed Lupe, lovingly embracing a mermaid. This is Alma López's commentary on Catholic Church teaching regarding sexuality and gender. She portrays a sacred individual romantically embracing another woman, directly challenging commonly followed beliefs that ostracize LGBTQ individuals. Alma López pushes the boundaries that confine the common woman, depicting La Virgen de Guadalupe in modern and controversial light as she paints. "Our Lady of Controversy: Alma Lopez's 'Irreverent Apparition'" (2011) demonstrates some of the angry responses she has received for her work. "Irreverent Apparition" is mixed media and is a sacrilegious depiction of La Virgen.
• Margarita “Mita” Cuaron focuses on light and rebirth when she paints La Virgen de Guadalupe. In her artwork “Virgen de Guadalupe Baby” from 1992, Cuaron toys with the idea of a symbol that never stays static. In her pieces, La Virgen has come to mean the cycle of life. She depicts a baby surrounded by the womb, which is shaped by clouds and La Virgen’s typical sunlight and green garments. Within the child’s clasped hands is a light red heart. The child is sheltered by the womb, which offers protection from the outside world.
• Like Alma Lopez, Yolanda López also focuses on themes of sexuality and the stigmas of women when she portrays La Virgen de Guadalupe. In her piece, “Love Goddess” from 1978, Yolanda López merges the image of La Virgen with an image of Sandro Bottecelli’s “The Birth of Venus” from the mid 1480s. She makes the commentary that Christian nature rejects the natural appearance of women’s bodies by embracing the fact that at an even earlier age, the Greek mythology would embrace it without the shame and fear that has developed. Yolanda López challenges the virginal image by eradicating the stigma and sin that often associates; she infuses a sacred religious image with sexuality so as to celebrate it rather than be ashamed.

* Ester Hernández references the sacred Virgen de Guadalupe in her painting, La Ofrenda (1988). Painting recognizes lesbian love, challenges the traditional role of la familia. It defied the reverence and holiness of La Virgen by being depicted as a tattoo on a lesbian's back. She also painted La Virgen de Guadalupe Defendiendo los Derechos de Los Xicanos (1975) .

Modern Work

Though the Chicano movement has passed, Chicanas continue to use art as a way to uplift their perspectives and celebrate Chicana voices. New art forms have risen as technology has begun to play a more vital role in daily life as artists like Guadalupe Rosales use platforms like Instagram as a part of their work. Rosales uses her role as an artist and an archivist to artfully collect photos and magazines of Chicanas. She portrayed her own understanding of growing up Chicana in East Los Angeles, a predominantly Latino area. On her account Veteranas y Rucas, her photos depict men in baggy pants and women with teased hair making their way through a time of anti-immigrant sentiments and gang violence. What started as a way for Rosales family to connect over their shared culture through posting images of Chicana/o history and nostalgia soon grew to an archive dedicated to not only ’90 Chicana/o youth culture but also as far back as the 1940s. Additionally, Rosales has created art installations to display the archive away from its original digital format and exhibited solo shows Echoes of a Collective Memory and Legends Never Die, A Collective Memory. Rosales is the recipient of a 2019 Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship. Her art was shown in a solo museum exhibit called “Echos of a Collective Memory” at the Vicent Art Museum in 2018, but prior to that she was the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s first Instagram artist in residence in 2017. Others like poet Felicia “Fe” Montes have gained popularity for their work in Chicana art for still other forms. Montes uses spoken word and slam traditions among other mediums to relate with her Latina following about identity. She reads her poetry in unconventional places and questions women’s historically subservient and lower-serving roles than men. As she writes, she keeps the Chicano culture in Los Angeles in mind, through women's collectives like Mujeres de Maiz.