'In Your Face: Chicano Art After CARA' Comes to Mexico

 In Your Face: Chicano Art After CARA (Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation), the groundbreaking international traveling exhibition, is coming to North America to make its final stop on the tour in Mexico. One of the most significant exhibitions of contemporary Chicano art to date, approximately 18,000 visitors viewed the exhibition in Rome, Berlin, and most recently in Madrid as part of the Veranos de la Villa Festival. 
 
From October 13, 2023, through February 4, 2024, In Your Face will be presented in partnership with the United States Embassy in Mexico as part of the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato, Mexico. The exhibition features 53 works of diverse media, such as sculpture, photography, prints, painting, and mixed media by 31 renowned Chicana/o artists from around the United States. The artwork is largely from the AltaMed Art Collection, one of the largest and most important collections of Chicano/a art in the world.
 
"We are honored to partner with the United States Embassy in Mexico, and we are deeply grateful to be including our exhibition in Festival International Cervantino," said AltaMed President and CEO Cástulo de la Rocha. “The importance of building cultural bridges between countries cannot be understated, and we are proud to continue this work with Chicano art in Europe, and now in Mexico for this major cultural festival."

“Chicano art reflects the identity and pride of the community with Mexican roots, extending to different groups of Latino society in the United States and along our shared border,” said Ken Salazar, United States Ambassador to Mexico. “I hope you enjoy this exhibition and get to know Chicano art more closely to appreciate the great social impact that this movement had and how it continues to promote respect for human, social and labor rights, as well as being a reason for pride and identity.”

“Chicano art is a vibrant, visual reflection of the experience of Mexicans in the United States, a result of migration, trade, and intercultural exchanges that create diasporic communities everywhere,” said Dr. Susana Smith Bautista, AltaMed Chief Curator. “Our partnerships first with the Mexican Embassies in Europe and now with the US Embassy in Mexico, is evidence that Chicano art is truly universal.”

In Your Face aims to improve appreciation of Chicano art as part of the greater canon of art history, and inclusion in American art conversations. The traveling exhibition contributes to building and sustaining cultural bridges between the United States, Mexico, Italy, Spain, and Germany and between artists and rich artistic communities of Mexican heritage everywhere.