Creating My Place in the Americas

Manuel de Arellano
Mexican, 1691–1722
Rendering of a Mulatta
1711
Oil paint on canvas
Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer

Shaped by social, cultural, and political forces, identities in the Americas are not fixed, but mutable and diverse. One of the driving forces for many artists is the desire to inspire change. This urge may result from their own search for identity or may reflect their responses to inequality, marginalization, and other factors that render them absent from the mainstream discourse.

Alexander Apóstol
Venezuelan, born 1969, lives and works in Caracas and Madrid
Clockwise: MONCHO Movimiento de Organización Nacional con Honestidad Administrativa; IDEAL Integración Democrática de Altura; FPI Fuerza Popular Independiente; PAN Partido Autentico Nacionalista, from the series Partidos Políticos Desaparecidos [Disappeared Political Parties]
2018
Digital inkjet prints
Funds from Frederic H. Douglas by exchange (2019.338); Funds from Ethel Sayre Berger by exchange (2019.339); Funds from Modern and Contemporary Art and an anonymous donor by exchange (2019.337, .340)

Alexander Apostol creates paintings, which he then photographs, that reproduce voting cards from the sixty-four minority political parties that disappeared during the so-called democratic period in Venezuela (1958–98). Devoid of text and image, the photos show only the colorful geometric designs of the voting cards’ background, which helped illiterate people recognize political parties and cast their vote.

Unknown Maya artist
Mexico or Guatemala
Stela with Image of Standing Ruler Burning Offerings
About 780
Limestone
Department acquisition funds, 1997.149

Religious figures wielded spiritual and political power in the ancient Maya world and the Spanish Christian world. Here, the Maya ruler presents himself as both ruler and priest interceding on behalf of his people with the gods. The portrait on the right shows the Archbishop of Mexico, representative of the authority of the Catholic Church in the spiritual and political realms. In both cases, power is directly derived from the individual’s proximity to the divine.

Juan Rodríguez Juárez
Mexican, 1667–1734
Portrait of Don Francisco José Pérez de Lanciego y Eguilaz
1714
Oil paint on canvas
Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 2013.350

Unknown artist
Maya culture, Río Azul, Guatemala
Cylinder Vessel with Image of Seated Lord and Attendants at Court
600–800
Ceramic with colored slips
Funds from various donors, Volunteer Endowment Fund, and department acquisition funds, 2003.1

Telling a tale of social mobility, this Maya vessel shows a man with one arm outstretched and the other holding a bouquet of flowers. Behind him are his brothers, and surrounding them are all his worldly goods, including three bags of black beans, proudly presented as a display of wealth. That he could afford to commission this vessel, painted in the style of a royal palace scene, is a sign of high status.

Francisco Clapera
Active in Mexico 1770–1810
Set of Casta Paintings
About 1775
Oil paint on canvas
Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 2011.428

Casta paintings were produced to rank the complex structure of Spanish colonial society in terms of social status and racial mixing. Each family group is identified by the occupation, clothing, and objects that surround them. Similarly, contemporary photographer Daniela Rossell poses her “rich and famous” subjects amid an ostentatious display of wealth associated with their high social standing

Daniela Rossell
Mexican, born 1973, lives and works in Mexico City
Untitled, from the series Ricas y Famosas
1999
Chromogenic color prints
Courtesy of the artist and Green Naftali, New York

Leo Chiachio and Daniel Giannone
Argentinean, born 1969; Argentinean, born 1964
Calaverita
2014
Hand embroidery with cotton thread and jewelry effect on Alexander Henry fabric
Lent by Chiachio & Giannone. © Chiachio & Giannone. Photo by Nacho Iasparra

The artistic duo of Chiachio & Giannone use techniques such as embroidery and needlework that are traditionally associated with femininity and domesticity. They portray themselves as a same-sex family (Argentina was the first country in Latin America to allow same-sex marriage) alongside their dachshund in elaborate and colorful compositions. The figures in their work often wear masks that conceal their identities as a commentary on the still-prevalent social stigma faced by LGBTQ individuals.

Rafael Ochoa
Venezuelan, active in Caracas 1787–1809
Portrait of Don José Bernardo de Asteguieta y Díaz de Sarralde (1749–1812)
1793
Oil paint on canvas
Gift of Carl Patterson in honor of Christoph Heinrich, 2017.96

In 1793, Rafael Ochoa signed and dated this portrait of a Spanish judge with a large inscription that presented himself as a man of African descent. Even though the signature is on the back of the canvas and usually hidden from view, it was a bold assertion of his right, as a free black man, to paint during a time of rigid racial segregation.

Wifredo Lam
Cuban 1902–1982
Les bras sur la tête (La mano nella testa)
1964
Oil paint on canvas
Craig Ponzio Collection, Denver. © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Photo by William O'Connor

An artist of mixed Afro-Cuban-Chinese ancestry, Wifredo Lam was among the first to draw on Cuba’s Afro-Cuban cultural traditions in his work. Exposure to European surrealism resurfaced memories of his Cuban childhood and Santería religion, which he proudly incorporated into his work. His figures, neither black nor white, represent the orishas, or Santería spirits.

Jorge Pineda
Dominican, born 1961, lives and works in Santo Domingo and Madrid
Afro: Charlie
2009
Mixed-media installation
Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros. © Jorge Pineda. Photo © Mariano Hernández

Through drawing, sculpture, and installation, Jorge Pineda denounces persistent racial stereotypes by reclaiming and elevating symbols of youth such as the hoodie, sneakers, and skateboard. The artist uses this backdrop to point out racial tensions and the effects of his search for personal identity. Here, in what appears to be a gesture of shame, Pineda’s figure turns away from us and hides his face. His exaggerated Afro hairstyle, however, makes clear what he cannot hide: his African ancestry.;