This exhibit is all about visibility for the Latinx LGBTQ community
A new exhibition in Los Angeles is focusing on what it means to be a queer member in today’s Latinx community. ¡Mírame! Expressions of Queer Latinx Art — which means “look at me” — plays into the idea of visibility, a significant inspiration behind the exhibition. The LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, the space where the gallery is housed, worked directly with 11 queer artists to produce the show.
The running theme throughout was to be radically inclusive for queer and brown people, focusing specifically on the exclusion that happens within the Latinx community itself.
Curator Erendina A. Delgadillo and other museum staff members researched the way queer Latinx art had been presented in the past, both in art and academia, and later workshopped with the Latino Equality Alliance and the L.A. LGBT Center on how to present the exhibit. Delgadillo told LA Weekly,
"It seemed like after all those discussions, especially at this moment politically, it was time to talk about how we exclude or include people, and how we draw those boundaries, who has the power to draw those boundaries and what effects they have on communities and people."
The running themes throughout are also education and empowerment. Once visitors enter the free exhibit, they’re given a glossary of LGBTQ terms that include “intersectionality” and “genderqueer.” The exhibit itself is an ode to classic Latinx motifs with a queer twist. This can be seen in artist Alma Silva’s work, which mashes up images like The Virgin of Guadalupe with loteria cards and lesbian imagery.
¡Mírame! also showcases the history queer Latinx art, and includes artist Joey Terrill, whose 1970 zine Homeboy Beautiful acted as a “fashion magazine for queer Chicanos.”
This is a must-see show for anyone, and a huge step in the way of representation for a community that is overlooked time and time again.
“¡Mírame! Expressions of Queer Latinx Art” runs through December 9th at the LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.
