[research in progress - abstract submitted to 2024 SECAC Conference, formerly Southeastern College Art Conference to be held in October 23-26, 2024.]
"Chicana Guilt and Visual Pleasure in Paintings and Drawings by Adan Hernandez."
In the 1990s and 2000s, Chicano artist Adan Hernandez (San Antonio, TX, 1951-2021) created multiple paintings and drawings representing fictional Chicanas. In most artworks, Hernandez’s women show sexualized bodies that elicit visual pleasure, yet they are diminished through guilt-ridden gestures juxtaposed to religious imagery. Since these works have not been previously discussed, initial inquiry requires exploring their symbolic imagery and titles. Beyond this, Hernandez’s statements, given through press articles and in his 2006 novel Los Vryosos, also suggest that his artworks engaged with contemporary films, with negative representations of gang violence, and with heroic pre-Civil Rights Chicana activists. Additionally, his imagery resonates with archetypes central to Chicana Studies: the Virgin of Guadalupe, La Malinche, and La Llorona. First theorized in a negative light by Octavio Paz in 1950, these archetypes were critically rearticulated and positively embraced by Chicana scholar Gloria Anzaldua and others since the 1980s. Given that Chicana writers were deconstructing these archetypes as Hernandez was creating and exhibiting his paintings, the question remains about whether his paintings reinforced or challenged the archetypes. I will present a complex analysis contemplating all these connections and conclude with a reflection about why Hernandez’s paintings continue to attract curators, collectors, and viewers.
Artworks discussed:
(Click on each image for information. All images reproduced with permission of Italia Hernandez).
Adan Hernandez, El Otro Ojo, oil on canvas, 2000.
Adan Hernandez, Una Noche Oscura, 2005, acrylic on canvas, 36" x 48" (92 x 122 cm). Collection Daniel Dorman, Los Angeles, CA.
Adan Hernandez, Ruca in the Rain, ca. 2006, oil on canvas. Collection of Cheech Marin.
Adan Hernandez, Ruca in a Pile Up, oil on canvas, 2005.
Adan Hernandez, "Nazul encounters Luna at the bus stop," drawing illustrated in Los Vryosos: A Tale from the Varrio, by Adan Hernandez (Starquest, 2006).
Adan Hernandez, "Pachuco," drawing illustrated in Los Vryosos: A Tale from the Varrio, by Adan Hernandez (Starquest, 2006).
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[manuscript in progress - research presented at 27th Conference on the Americas on February 16, 2024]
"Stories of Badass Success: Film references in Adan Hernandez’s Vida Loca and La Sad Girl"
After his involvement with the Chicano cult film Blood In Blood Out in the early 1990s, Chicano artist Adan Hernandez (1951-2021) became aware of gang violence and its impact on barrios of Los Angeles and San Antonio. At this time, both his imagery and his style took a dark turn. Two paintings stand out from this period: Vida Loca (late 1993, private collection) and La Sad Girl (early 2002, collection of Cheech Marin). In each painting's foreground, a sensual woman assertively signals her indifference towards scenes of armed violence and police abuse by turning away from them. The paintings' titles, given by the artist himself, prompted me to investigate their cultural references and to explore their likely link with the iconic Chicana film Mi Vida Loca, by Allison Anders. Filmed in 1992 and released in 1994, Mi Vida Loca was surely known to Hernandez through his Hollywood contacts long before its release. In the film, young and vulnerable girls who were abandoned by gang boys become gang girls to survive. The assertive tone of the gang girls' spoken monologues resonates with the self-possessed demeanors of the women in Hernandez's paintings. Additionally, since Hernandez depicted the women as sexualized vixens, I explore how their representations possibly incorporated signifiers of ‘badass girl’ characters from highly popular 1990s mainstream films. Finally, my analysis delves into how Hernandez's triumphant gang women may have alluded to his own self-perception as a marginal artist turned successful. Mingled with intermittent periods of oblivion, recognition came to Hernandez in the early 1990s and then again in the early 2000s, when his works were curated into game-changing traveling exhibitions and acquired by important collectors. It was at these times that he also created these two fictional badass Chicanas, suggesting that his personal story may have filtered through these artworks.
Artworks discussed:
(Click on each image for information. Images reproduced with permission of Italia Hernandez.)
Adan Hernandez, Vida Loca, late 1993, 59 x 57 in (149.86 x 144.78 cm). Private Collection, Russia.
Adan Hernandez, La Sad Girl, December 2001-April 2002, oil on canvas, 72 x 64 in. (182.88 x 162.66 cm). The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Arts and Culture.
Theatrical poster, Mi Vida Loca. Directed by Allison Anders, Sony Pictures Classic, released in United States July 1994. 1 hr., 32 m. Image source: Wikipedia. Fair Use.
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[submitted April 1, 2024 - under review] 2024 LEAP into Action Grant Proposal. “The 2024 Hispanic Heritage Month Art Exhibition: art history meets skills training through experiential learning.”
This project merges art history education with skills training and pioneers a new teaching model. It integrates the acquisition of art historical knowledge with the application of practical skills to create an art exhibition honoring Hispanic Heritage Month. This initiative aims to enhance appreciation and understanding of students of Latin American descent, who make up 16.3% of the total University of North Georgia student population. A key goal is to provide UNG students with a comprehensive educational experience that prepares them for employment upon graduation.
Students will explore well-known traditions and established artists in Mexican, Chicano, and Latino art history alongside unfamiliar artwork entries from the invitational exhibition Roots, and they will be encouraged to draw parallels between them. They will demonstrate their findings through class presentations called “curatorial integrations” and “deep dive integrations,” connecting information from lectures and readings with themes, styles, and contexts detectable in the exhibition entries. Having established these parallels, they will write substantial and well-supported curatorial statements, artwork entries, and speeches to be presented in the exhibition space. Meanwhile, workshop-style class meetings will provide students with the hands-on training necessary to produce an art exhibition.
[project direction - upcoming] Roots - 2024 Hispanic Heritage Month Art Exhibition.
Library and Technology Center, University of North Georgia, October 1-November 21, 2024.
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[project coordination in progress] 2024 Bayeux Tapestry Replica Exhibit, College of Arts and Letters, University of North Georgia, September 14-19, 9 am-3 pm.
2024 Bayeux Tapestry Replica Exhibit, College of Arts and Letters,
University of North Georgia,
September 14-19, 9 am-3 pm.
A free audio-tour will be available to guide visitors along the 224 feet-long Bayeux Tapestry Replica and its rich historical narrative. An electronic device with internet access and headphones, such as a phone or tablet, is needed to access the audio-tour. For large groups who request it, in-person docents will be available.
Texts for the audio-tour were written by my students in Spring 2024 ART 3500 Visual Literacy and Communication, and will be recorded by Dr. Brian Corrigan, Senior Professor of Renaissance Literature at the University of North Georgia. Students in Fall 2024 ART 3500 Visual Literacy and Communication will serve as in-person docents for visiting groups.
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[manuscript in progress - this project is the corollary of the research publicly presented on April 2nd, 2024.]
"William Price's legacy and Dahlonega’s Historic Baptist Church of 1897: history, material culture, and symbolism"
co-authored by Reagan Smith and Ana Pozzi Harris
This essay investigates the Historic Baptist Church of 1897 located in Dahlonega, Georgia, a building whose exterior is well preserved, while its interior needs historic restoration. The building's significance lies in its link to the shared histories of the Dahlonega Baptist Church and the University of North Georgia, established in 1873 under the name North Georgia Agricultural College (NGAC). Our essay seeks to further establish the structure’s architectural and historical importance with the goal of noting its needed preservation. We discuss surviving documents associated with the building’s origins, namely those authored by Col. William P. Price (1835-1908), the chairman of the Baptist church’s board and the first president of the NGAC Board of Trustees. These documents reveal the reasons why Price advocated for a new building to replace the wooden Old Baptist Church of 1841. According to him, a new structure built in solid brick and beautifully decorated would enhance the congregations’ ability to save Dahlonega from moral decay, while also serving as a religious beacon for NGAC’s students and faculty. Other documents discussed provide information about the costly construction materials used, revealing how Price perceived material culture as evidence of the congregation’s moral progress. We then consider the building's architectural style in the context of Gothic Revival southern rural churches, and especially in connection to another local Gothic Revival building funded by Col. Price: the Administration Building of NGAC (now Price Memorial), an iconic building at UNG and in Dahlonega. Finally, we investigate the memorial windows preserved in the church interior, considering the persons whose names are inscribed in stained-glass and their connection to the history of the Dahlonega Baptist Church and NGAC. With this background, an interpretation about the windows’ symbolism in space emerges, suggesting that interconnected materials and architectural elements reveal the Price family’s wish to firmly inscribe itself in church and college history.
Some photos of the building. All photos by Reagan Smith.
Façade of Historic Baptist Church of 1987, Dahlonega, Georgia.
Façade Window. View from interior of Historic Baptist Church of 1897. Stained-glass.
Sainted Mothers Memorial Windows in interior of Historic Baptist Church of 1897. ca. 1897. Stained-glass.
Lewis Memorial Window in interior of Historic Baptist Church of 1897. ca. 1897. Stained-glass.
Price Memorial Windows in interior of Historic Baptist Church of 1897. Left: Martha Price. Right: William P. Price. 1910. Stained-glass.
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[In progress] Participant. 2023-2024 Faculty Academy on High-Impact Educational Practices (HIP).
Researching and writing an updated version of the course Art History Undergraduate Research adjusted to HIP standards under the mentorship of Dr. Esther Morgan Ellis. The revised course will include content on art historiography and the systematic discussion of research methods and writing.