Enrique Chagoya, Elvis Meets the Virgin of Guadalupe, 1994. Color lithograph, 32 x 32 inches.
La Onda, translating to The Wave, refers to an artistic movement in Mexico in the 1960s, which drew inspiration from counterculture and the avant-garde, while Chicano is the concurrent social movement launched by the Hispanic community in the States. The exhibition features over 40 works by Chicanx and Latinx artists from that period through the present, focusing on the power of art’s ability to shed new light on individual and collective histories and identities. In this print by Chagoya, the Virgin of Guadalupe, who is a figure of great religious significance to many Chicanx artists, is depicted alongside Elvis Presley, an icon of American culture. According to Chagoya, the dialogue between the two is implicit in that “the visual language is structured with contrasting and interacting images that are often trans-cultural and from different times and geographic places to create what I may call ‘visual sentences’ or non-linear non-textual narratives.”
The exhibition will be on view through May 28, 2023.