March 19, 2001
Subject: Re: Our Nuestra de Guadalupe in New
Mexico is Sacred
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 00:38:52 EST
From: RGarciaMon@aol.com
To: almalopez@earthlink.net
Hi Alma, nice, diplomatic response. If you wanted
to be confrontational (and you don't) you could tell the idiot to look up
fascism in the dictionary.
Ramon
Subject: Re: Our Nuestra de Guadalupe in New
Mexico is Sacred
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 01:30:59 EST
From: XicanoBks@aol.com
To: almalopez@earthlink.net
Wait, a minute, did i just step into a time
machine and accidently hit reverse to the Spanish Inquisition? Luis Alfaro
was right...Jesus save us...from some of your followers!!
Josie
Subject: La Virgin
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 10:12:15 -0800
From: Patricio Chavez <pachavez@ucsd.edu>
To: <almalopez@earthlink.net>
Hello Alma, Richard Lou forwarded me the email
you received from José Villegas and your very dignified response. I
am from New Mexico although I have been in San Diego for 11 years now. I was
formerly the curator at the Centro Cultural de la Raza.
I am not sure if we have met but I have admired
your work for some time.
Please send me your web site information. I don't know if I can help but I still have many dear friends and colleagues in New Mexico.
Any time a re-imaging takes place there can be contention (which in and of
itself is certainly not bad) especially if it involves faith and sexuality.
Patricio Chávez
Subject: (no subject)
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 14:07:12 EST
From: ErickSerrato@cs.com
To: Jose_Villegas@email.msn.com
CC: almalopez@earthlink.com
Dear hermano:
It is incredibly distressing to see an active
Chicano like yourself be so misguided. I hope you can understand the context
in which the art was created and the meaning behind it. Though others might
believe otherwise, Latinos have a deep tradition in the arts and are insightful
people- I work at a museum of Latin American art here in Los Angeles, and
understand how valuable an artist's interpretation is. For starter's you might
want to look up a favorite painting of mine by Jose Clemente Orozco (famous
Mexican muralist) where he paints Jesus Christ as a man you has come back
to reclaim his name and stop the criminals, politicians and capitalists who
have misused the name of God. He is holding an ax and has chopped down his
own crucifix. It is really powerful.
What I wish you would understand is the idea
that La Virgen belongs to no one as much as it belongs to everyone. Her image
has been created and recreated by hundreds of thousands of Chicanos like you
and I- look on the walls of your corner markets or your neighborhood iglesia
or the notebooks of our highschoolers. Every one of us, in our own way, has
taken her image and made it personal. You don't agree with Alma's expression,
and you know, that's cool. But do not create mitote where there need not be.
I have only been to New Mexico once and thought
it was incredible. If you are in Los Angeles, please let us know and we'll
take you for a tour of all the East LA murals that include La Virgen and maybe
you'll understand why this work is valid and valuable.
Hasta luego. Paz
Erick Serrato
Subject: Re: Our Nuestra de Guadalupe in New
Mexico is Sacred
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 13:58:34 -0800
From: "Josephine Ramirez" <JRamirez@getty.edu>
To: <almalopez@earthlink.net>
Alma: WOW. Thanks for sharing this. It is completely
fascinating to me how the Virgen image can cause such outrage when not portrayed
in its "official" form. I love and admire your response, too--brave
and diplomatic in the face of his explicit and rather threatening tone.
Josefina
Subject: Re: Our Nuestra de Guadalupe in New
Mexico is Sacred
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 17:32:47 -0800
From: Aida Mancillas <aidamancillas@home.com>
To: almalopez@earthlink.net
References: 1 , 2
Dear Alma,
Well girl, you just keep poking at the internal contradiction in our community, "How do so-called activists reconcile their politics with their fundamentalism?"
I've sent this information off to our board of trustees and the arts advisory committee. I think this subject matter deserves to be discussed and debated. When I see what has been done to your work (and other queer artists like Alex) it makes me understand why the attacks on the Centro and its staff have been so unrelenting. These attacks are part of an underlying contradiction in the "progressive" community which has never acknowledged its deep sexism, its mimicking of the dominant power structure, and its homophobia. It's past time to do so.
What can I tell you mujer? Keep doing your work. It's good work and it raises critical issues. It's strong aesthetically. It's strong content-wise. It's smart. It's hilarious. It's truthful.
Art is all about the pursuit of truth and beauty
(in all its forms). You're on an important path, and your work will lead us
to a new understanding of the complexity of our community.
With great respect for you and your work,
Aida
"At its best, the sensation of (making
art) is that of any unmerited grace. It is handed to you, but only if you
look for it. You search, you break your heart, your back, your brain, and
then--and only then--it is handed to you."
Annie Dillard , from "The Writing Life"