The Chicanization of Mexican Calendar Art
As prevalent domestic
items, many Chicanos grew up with Mexican calendars in their
homes. These calendars became a part of the artistic and cultural
reclamation process of The Chicano Movement, especially in
the 1970s. Along with pre-conquest glyphs and symbols, loteria cards, religious icons and popular
art, the Mexican calendar became another source for Chicano
artists to explore their cultural identity. These calendar
images widely produced in Mexico after the 1920s, glorified
its glorious prehispanic heritage as part of larger social
effort to create a national identity. However, they covertly
“Europeanize” the nation’s indigenous identity in their promotion
of a European classical aesthetic. In contrast, Chicanos used
these very same images to “indigenize” a Mexican American
self-image. In fact, Mexican calendars became part of the
iconography of indigenismo,
which sought to reestablish linkages between Chicanos and
their pre-conquest Mexican ancestors and to reintroduce indigenous
knowledge through its ancient philosophy, literature and ceremonies. During the Chicano movement, calendar images were transferred
onto t-shirts, posters, murals and even album covers. However,
upon closer reading there are mixed social and sexual messages
inherent in them. Beginning with an introduction to Mexico
during the 1920-50s (the height of the production and distribution
of these calendars), I will explore the calendar’s intended
purpose versus their actual impact on Mexico identity and
finally, their relevance to and transmutation by Chicano artists.
Though there were many Mexican artists producing these calendars,
I will focus on the most recognizable one, Jesus Helguera.
Helguera, like the other calendar artists of his time, reinvented
a Mexican prehispanic history and aligned it with western
European “classical” notions of beauty based on Greek and
Roman aesthetic ideals and French romanticism. After the 1950s
with the advent of television, aesthetic influences from the
United States became pervasive. In fact, Mexican telenovelas and commercials continue to promote rich and successful
EuroMexicans as the main characters. In the promotion of this
aesthetic ideal as the only one worthy of depiction, Mexican
television continues the Mexican calendars’ legacy of subtle
racism. The reinterpretation and subversion by Chicano artists
of the imagery found on the Helguera calendars is one of the
most important contributions of the Chicano art movement.
Using art works created since the early 1970s to the present,
I will explore how Mexican calendar imagery proved to be a
nutrient source for Chicano artists to learn about Mexico’s
indigenous past, cultural traditions and regional diversity.
However, contrary to the Mexican goal of celebrating a European
aesthetic, Chicanos gravitated towards these calendars as
a means to reclaim and affirm their indigenous identity. Thus,
many artists intentionally sought the popular art form to
create contemporary sociopolitical statements. In their conscious
use of these very recognizable images, Chicano artists subvert
and deconstruct the underlying premises of the original calendars: the unification of a mestizo nation based on
European aesthetics. The result is a disruption of preconceived
notions of identity and gender politics. There are many examples
of this, but I will focus on three very famous Helguera calendar
images and their proliferation in popular culture (including
Chicano murals, album covers) and their sociopolitical transmutation
in the artwork of photographer Roberto Buitron, and visual
artists Luis Jimenez and Alma Lopez.
Copyright © 2003
Smithsonian Institution |
