ChismeArte, ¡Y Que!: Expanding L.A.'s Chicano Aesthetic

How a magazine of hybrid, radical street art, barrio iconography, and avant-garde literature questioned, expanded, and experimented with the possibilities of Chicano urban identity.

Artists and Authors

» Get more information on the artists and authors featured in the ChismeArte exhibit.

The Exhibit

Opening Reception and Talk

"Representing and re-defining L.A.'s Latino experience..."

The exhibition highlights a moment in the careers of a cadre of Chicano authors and artists who would later receive critical acclaim for representing and re-defining L.A.'s Latino experience. ChismeArte Magazine offered writers and artists a rare venue in which to experiment with Chicano identity.

The magazine's motto — a "Molotov cocktail for aesthetic appetite" — illustrates that provocative stance toward its readers. Not always seamless in their pastiche, the magazine's creators attempted to use ChismeArte as a vehicle for self-expression and critical debate within the Chicano community.

ChismeArte is presented in collaboration with Kennedy Library, the Ethnic Studies Department and the Chicana Latino Faculty Staff Association (CLFSA).

Learn More

Contacts

Catherine J. Trujillo, Special Collections
(805) 756-2305
ctrujill@calpoly.edu

Victor Valle, Chair Ethnic Studies
(805) 756-1707
vvalle@calpoly.edu