Featuring 73 screenprints and lithographs made between 1980 and 2010 and drawing from both the collection of the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio and the Crocker, Estampas de la Raza highlights a vital but largely overlooked segment of contemporary American art and celebrates the collaboration and creativity of artists and print workshops in California and Texas.

Inspired by the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, many of the artists in the exhibition draw on artistic traditions ranging from Mexican printmaking to mural painting, as well as other sources such as folk art, Pop art, and graffiti. The breadth of art displayed proves that Latinx art and artists are far from homogenous, and the variety of work featured in Estampas de la Raza highlights the many facets of Latinx and Chicanx culture. Organized thematically into five sections, the exhibition explores universal themes and key aspects of the Latinx experience: the identity of individuals striving to define themselves; the Chicano Movement’s struggle to achieve economic, political, and personal equality; the tradition, memory, and culture of everyday life; iconic figures that represent social and political causes; and the influence of Latinx culture on contemporary American life and art. The artists in Estampas de la Raza are bound together by the shared experience of navigating what it means to be both Mexican and American in the modern United States.

Estampas de la Raza was first shown at the McNay in September of 2012 with over 60 works from the Romo Collection. The Crocker’s contribution to the exhibition includes prints from a 1987 series made by the Sacramento-based Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF). Commissioned to commemorate the 15th anniversary of La Raza Bookstore/Galleria Posada, the works in this series complement and inform those in the Romo Collection through their shared themes, bold aesthetics, and collaborative focus.

The exhibition at the Crocker is curated by Mariah Briel. Following the presentation at the Crocker, Estampas de la Raza will travel to the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia.

Estampas de La Raza: Contemporary Prints from the Romo Collection was organized by the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas. Support for this exhibition is provided by ArtBridges.

EXHIBITION-RELATED EVENTS AND PROGRAMS

• Jazz Night at the Crocker (5/25, 6/22, 7/27, 8/24)

• ArtMix: En Fuego (7/13)

• Artist to Artist: Conversation with Estampas de la Raza artists (8/5)

• For the People/By the People: A Printmaking Festival at Southside Park (8/27)

Studio Classes

• Studio Class: Printmaking Explorations (7/8)

• Studio Class: Expressing Identity in Icons and Symbolism: Inspired by the Artworks of Estampas de la Raza (7/23)

• Teen Art Labs: Printmaking (8/3)