Subject: Support Freedom of Expression
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 00:19:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: <bdc31@columbia.edu>
To: <jice@moifa.org>
CC: <almalopez@earthlink.net>
Dear Dr. Joyce Ice:
I am writing because I support an individual's
right to free speech and artistic freedom of expression. I understand that
there has been controversy surrounding an art piece entitled "Our Lady"
by Alma Lopez. I strongly support the Museum of International Folk Art's showing
of this piece. This country was founded on certain ideals such as freedom
of expression and I encourage you to oppose any attempts at artistic censorship.
Thank you for your attention in this matter.
Cordially,
Brenda Chavez
Columbia Law School Student
**********************************************************************
Brenda Chavez
Columbia School of Law
bdc31@columbia.edu
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 00:22:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: <bdc31@columbia.edu>
To: <TMNunn@moifa.org>
CC: <almalopez@earthlink.net>
Dear Dr. Tey Marianna Nunn:
I am writing because I support an individual's
right to free speech and artistic freedom of expression. I understand that
there has been controversy surrounding an art piece entitled "Our Lady"
by Alma Lopez. I strongly support the Museum of International Folk Art's showing
of this piece. This country was founded on certain ideals such as freedom
of expression and I encourage you to oppose any attempts at artistic censorship.
Thank you for your attention in this matter.
Cordially,
Brenda Chavez
Columbia Law School Student
**********************************************************************
Brenda Chavez
Columbia School of Law
bdc31@columbia.edu
Subject: Re: [AztlanNet] Alma's "Ladies"
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 19:07:35 -0000
From: "Pedro Romero Sedeno" <romesedeno@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: AztlanNet@yahoogroups.com
To: AztlanNet@yahoogroups.com, romesedeno@yahoo.com
Dear weberos y weberos, In defense
of the intelligence of my community of 13 years, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and
not in support of censorship, I put forth this view to counter the Museum
of International Folk Art's notion that Alma Lopez' "Our Lady" is
a work of art. In direct reponse to my question posed to Alma when she
was here in Santa Fe, is "Our Lady" devotional art, Alma said
"no". Her secular work then can be analyzed without questioning
the artist's spiritual connection to the work. Without the attendant
Guadalupe Clip-Art, Alma's digital print (not a "painting", Aida,
hello-o!) reads more as a poster for women's liberation, propaganda for her
feminist politics. W/o the Guadalupan derivatives, the work reads like
commercial art for floral undergarments, a Chicana "Victoria's Secret"
ad, "Yes, the spring fashion, la Chica de Ipanema line". In
a comical toreador stance, or is it all-star wrestler? we must accept this
cliche as "a strong woman"?. Gimme a break. And with
the nude angel, what's up with? "Yes, they're real!" or as
on the front of Newsweek: "Healthy bodies are back!" An ad for digitally-enhanced
breasts? If Alma Lopez wants to work out her gender issues from
the Guadalupe platform, God bless her, but I don't have to accept the Museum's
(a folk art museum?) validation of it as "Art". Virtuosity
with an airbrush and PhotoShop software does not a Michaelangelo or Frida
Kahlo make.
What the Museum props as " changes in cultural expression" is more an expression of cultural amnesia. Guadalupan culture is alive here in New Mexico as it is alive in the hearts of millions, upon milliones de Mejicanos y Mejicanas que se identifican con el espiritu de belleza idealistica detras de la imagen. To Alma who uses the Guadalupana and sirena from a loteria card like clip-art for her posters: La madre Guadalupe-Tonantzin is a real, living Spirit, esa. This "Lady"'s participation in your and Sandra Cisneros' plastic sexual fantasies is not consensual. Your work can be construed as ideological date-rape. Choose again for other cliches and souvenirs in your cruise as an intellectual tourist through the issues of our barrios (one map of US-Mexico border: no blood, sweat or onions, please) to produce your "new and improved" souvenirs. Your computer magic is but the dream of your ego. Join us closet Guadalupanos and explore an act of devotion with your creativity. You have much beauty in you. Beauty is an eternal value, uplifts, as truth makes coherent and goodness stabilizes. Hook up with Guadalupe-Tonantzin and the matriarchal archetype of compassion, not Colyolxauqhui or Kali, goddesses of revenge. . My sister, choose again. -this message a community service by Pedro Romero Sedeno, M.F.A. and faith-son of Guadalupe-Tonantzin. Now back to my folk art project: Lady-in-floral-bikinipinyatas! order now in time for Mother's Day. or then fine art originals: oil oncanvas of Lady-in-bikini, a la Botticelli Venus on the half shell. "I'd rather be an artist than an unemployed critic of museums" - P.R.S. copyright 1990
Subject: Our Lady
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 18:36:14 EDT
From: JASMIN021@aol.com
To: almalopez@earthlink.net
CC: davalos@csusm.edu, TMNunn@moifa.org
Dear Alma,
I am writing in support of your controversial
art piece, "Our Lady". My professor, David Avalos has brought this
beautiful art piece and controversy to our attention in our Chicano/a Art
class. I find it very sad to see how much trouble the Archbishop of Santa
Fe, Michael J. Sheehan is causing regarding your digital art piece. The Santa
Fe newspaper seems to be making the situation even worse by their incorrect
representation of what the Virgin de Guadalupe is wearing. They say she is
"bikini-clad", which could not be further from the truth. To me,
she is wearing shorts and a tank top with roses on it. It is sad to see this
newspaper sway people's idea of what the art-piece actually looks like.
The article said that Sheehan called the picture
"insulting, even sacrilegious, to the many thousands of New Mexicans
who have deep religious devotion to Guadalupe". That is what he thought,
not the thousands of New Mexicans who are Catholic, because I'm sure he really
asked thousands of Catholics how they felt about your art piece before making
this sweeping statement. Sure. And for him to say that your art had "no
place in a tax-supported museum" is ludicrous!! He doesn't even pay taxes!
I think he has no place to say whether it should be there or not if he's using
that as an excuse.
When I look at this image, "Our Lady",
I see the portrayal of a strong Chicana, something much different and much
needed compared to the original bowed head, hands clasped Virgin de Guadalupe.
Women need to be shown as strong and willing to fight for what they believe,
not submissive and patient. What you are doing now is being that strong and
willing woman in order to fight for your right to display your art without
opposition from these close-minded, New Mexican men who keep trying to tie
church and state, when they are and should be separate.
Good luck in your struggle and I hope this letter
will give you the support that you deserve.
Sincerely,
Jasmine Butts, CSUSM student
Subject: "Our Lady"
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 22:02:20 -0700
From: "piper nadelle" <pipernadelle@hotmail.com>
To: almalopez@earthlink.net
CC: davalos@csusm.edu
Dear Ms. Lopez:
Currently, I am taking a course entitled “Chicano
Art of the Border Region” with David Avalos, an artist and professor
at California State University in San Marcos. We had been studying La Virgen
de Guadalupe in the context of Yolanda Lopez’s 1978 trilogy “Guadalupe
Triptych”. The controversy surrounding your piece “Our Lady”
is most timely - thank you. Mr. Avalos facilitated a class discussion of your
recent piece. The class agreed (without any prior knowledge of this piece
or your work) that your were not trying to portray her as every woman, but
redefining La Virgen as a strong, nurturing mujer. Your e-mail response
to Mr. Villegas indicates that was your intention - to show her as the women
you know, strong mujeres who nurture their families.
My initial reaction to your piece was conflicted. Your portrayal of the La
Virgen is beautiful and strong, and I feel your depiction is accurate in its
contemporary context. I loved your use of Juan Diego’s miraculous roses
for her undercovering, falling from the cloak which no longer covers her.
And yet the uncovered breasts of the angel underneath struck me as highly
sexual and seemed to be sending another message, although I was not sure what.
Some members of the class disagreed, saying that the angel represented a woman
to them, not just a passive virgin, but one transformed into a nurturing mother,
further reinforced by the image of la mariposa which undergoes a change from
caterpillar to butterfly.
Considering the magnitude
of the challenge you knowingly undertook in depicting this sacred (to many)
image in a manner that would disturb some, I was perplexed as to why you would
further complicate the message by adding nudity to an already risk-taking
piece (even though your response to Mr. Villegas indicates your belief that
“breasts are… beautiful and nurturing,…[not] something to be
hidden.”) After trying unsuccessfully to access your website (unavailable
due to high activity - congratulations!), I referred to Luz Calvo’s article
“Impassioned Icons: Alma Lopez and Queer Chicana Visual Desire in which
she discusses your choice of la mariposa, the Viceroy butterfly (not the Monarch)
as a visual metaphor for queer Chicanas/os, marimachas and maricones. And
I realized that the angel with exposed breasts, surrounded by the Viceroy,
is not only a mother image, but also a reference to lesbian desire
I applaud your artistic
statement that clearly signifies that La Virgen is still a powerful and unifying
figure in Chicana/o belief, culture, and traditions. I am offended, however,
by the linking of La Virgen to a lesbian context. Although I do not agree
with you, I understand your desire to relate to La Virgen in a personal way
and in viewing “Our Lady” I sense your reverence for her. I also
understand that some Chicanas/os see this artwork as an assault on their culture
and beliefs, and I am glad that they, like you, have enough conviction to
publicly express those ideas. While religiously and socially I may disagree
with you, artistically I feel that in “Our Lady” you have created
a beautiful and thought-provoking piece in which you have successfully balanced
your personal history against the larger backdrop of the collective Chicana/o
history.
I trust
that reason will prevail and your piece will not be censored. Hopefully, the
passions ignited by your work will generate discussions that help Chicanas/os
maintain their identity and preserve their heritage, not by abandoning beliefs
nor by enshrining traditions, untouchable, dead in a tomb, but by infusing
those traditions with fresh insights and relevant issues, keeping their heritage
immediate, approachable - and alive.
Sincerely,
Piper Nadelle