Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Harry Gamboa, Jr. and Gronk, 1999 Apr. 1-16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Patssi Valdez, 1999 May 26-June 2. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Harry Gamboa, Jr. conducted 1999 Apr. 1-16, at various cafes in Los Angeles, Calif., by Jeffrey Rangel, for the Archives of American Art. The artist, Gronk, joined the interview for the second session.
Photographer, painter, video artist, and writer, Harry Gamboa, Jr. (b. 1951), has been involved in creating visual and performance works that interpret the contemporary urban Chicano culture. A native of Los Angeles, Gamboa began the interview by reflecting on his book Urban Exile (University of Minnesota Press, 1998), which he considers only a fragment of his creative work, feeling photography his primary medium. He expressed a need to maintain his identity as a Chicano artist while at the same time trying to balance financial survival, family maintenance, and creative spontaneity. He described growing up in East Los Angeles, a period that tested his personality and developed his quick wit and humor as a means of survival and his sense of being the "participant viewer." He remembers his educational experiences as "highly damaging," due to the physical violence from a few teachers and the stereotyping of Chicanos. His views about the Vietnam War and his disillusionment of the political process which led to a discussion about the Civil Rights Movement and the African-American culture's influence on his work. He emphasized the lack of an awareness by the art community of black and Chicano artists that was underscored in the Armand Hammer Museum's LA and Noir [Sunshine and Noir: Los Angeles Art, 1960-1990, at the UCLA/Armand Hammer Art Center] exhibition, 1998.
The second session began and ended with Gamboa reflecting on his relationship with his wife and fellow artist, Barbara Carrasco. In the interim, he and Gronk, who joined the interview, discussed the dynamics that brought the artists together in Asco; the differences and competitiveness within the Chicano Arts Movement; and the vulnerabilities of an artist's surviving while trying to maintain an artistic vision. Despite these challenges and an opressive dominant culture that has not embrased Chicano art, Carrasco have continued as artists because they feel a need to create and to present their work as a means of expanding a perception of reality.
Biographical / Historical:
Harry Gamboa, Jr. (1951-) is a painter, writer, photographer, and video artist from Los Angeles, Calif.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators. Funding for the interview and transcription provided by the Smithsonian Institution Latino Initiatives Fund.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Patssi Valdez conducted 1999 May 26-June 2, by Jeffrey Rangel, for the Archives of American Art.
The interviews were conducted at the artist's home/studio in Los Angeles, California. Valdez discusses her current show at the Laguna Art Museum, "A Precarious Comfort," and the intensely personal nature of the work being exhibited; the liberating aspects of painting and her journey from dealing with the problems and concerns of the Chicano community to a more internal focus in which she examines her personal emotional life through symbol and imagination; how, in her work, landscape has come to represent emotions and states of mind; health problems and her turning to alternative methods of healing; her relationship with Asco and her eventual break from the group to pursue her art studies at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles (now Otis College of Art and Design) and in New York, and with a NEA grant to Europe and Mexico; difficulties she experienced with her decision to focus on art school and on her survival as an artist, while trying to keep in touch with friends and peers; friendships with Amalia Mesa Bains, Christina Fernandez, and Gronk, as well as with Sister Karen Boccalero whose Self-Help Graphics contributed so much to the growth of a younger generation of Chicano artists; fellow Asco artist Harry Gamboa, Jr., and their mutual goals in their art to subvert Chicano stereotypes; what constitutes Chicano art and how the Les Demon des Anges show changed her perspective; and her ability to create change through her art.
Biographical / Historical:
Patssi Valdez (1951-) is a painter, and installation artist from Los Angeles, California. Valdez is known for her boldly rendered works that vary in themes from homages to female deities to mystical environments.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 32 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators. Funding for the interview and transcription provided by the Smithsonian Institution Latino Inititatives Fund.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Barbara Carrasco conducted 1999 April 13 and 26, by Jeffrey Rangel, in two sessions, for the Archives of American Art.
Carrasco speaks of the roles played by her parents in her career as an artist, her experiences as a light-skinned Chicana, and the marginalization of women artists within the Chicano art movement; her relationship and marriage to fellow artist, Harry Gamboa, Jr., who has supported women artists; and her perception of Asco ("nausea" in Spanish), a group of artists and performers who joined together during the Chicano civil rights movement. She also discusses the influence of the art professors at UCLA and the quality of the training she received there; working with Carlos Almaraz and John Valadez on the "Zoot Suit" mural in Hollywood; meeting César Chávez and how he in part shaped her identity as a cultural worker; attending California School of Fine Arts, Valencia, California, and receiving her MFA there; other Chicana artists such as Carmen Lomas Garza; and the changes in her most recent work.
Biographical / Historical:
Barbara Carrasco (1955-) is a painter and muralist from Los Angeles, California. Carrasco was born in El Paso, Texas, and a resident of the Los Angeles area since 1956. She is best known for her work inspired by the United Farm Workers Union, by her experiences as a Chicana, by historical events, and by personal issues.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 10 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 41 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators. Funding for the interview and transcription provided by the Smithsonian Institution Latino Initiatives Fund.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Barbara Carrasco, 1999 April 13-26. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
Philip Brookman and Tomás Ybarra-Frausto. ASCO 83 pamphlet, 1983 May 18. Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Harry Gamboa. Press photo forNo Phantoms, an ASCO "no movie", 1983. Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Harry Gamboa. Photograph of The Walking Mural, an ASCO performance art piece, 1972. Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Mel Casas papers, 1963-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
Metamorfosis, Magazine, Centro de Estudios Chicanos, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (see also: Arreguín, Alfredo; Burciaga, José Antonio; Goldman, Shifra; Gamboa, Harry Jr.; Herrara, Juan Felipe; Montoya, José; Montoya, Malaquias; Rodrig...
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
(catalogs: The Mexican Museum Catalog of Selections from Its Collection With Introductions to Mexican and Mexican American Art, 1981; The Mexican Museum, 1983, with essay on Alfredo Arreguín by TYF; Lo Del Corazón: Heartbeat of a Culture, 1986, with text by Amalia Mesa-Bains and TYF; TYF's notes on Lo Del Corazí; From the West: Chicano Narrative Photography, 1996; Ceremony of Spirit, 1993; The Chicano Codices: Encountering Art of the Americas, 1992; Chicano Progeny: Investigative Agents, Executive Council, and Other Representatives from the Sovereign State of Aztlán., 1995; "Press Conference for design Architect" binder, 1995)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
(non-profit art space, Phoenix, Arizona; clippings; exhibition brochures; projected goals and mission statements; exhibition announcements; symposia materials for: The Style and Meaning of Chicano Art: list of participants and schedule (TYF was a panelist), and Post-Chicano Generation Art: Breaking Boundaries; catalog, Rasquachismo, curated by TYF, Lennee Eller, Rudy Guglielmo, with essays by TYF, Shifra Goldman and John L. Aguilar; organization history; partial grant application; letter to TYF from Rudy Guglielmo, Executive Director, MARS, 11/02/1987; oversize poster; "Member Letter" newsletter, Sept. 1986 - April 1987; July 1987)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
