Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A., by Tania Garcia

The Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A. art exhibit at Denver University has been one of the most thought provoking and revealing experiences I’ve had in a long time. Not only was it invigorating to see the powerful messages/work from fellow Chicanos, but to be able to interpret their protest art made this an important learning moment. One in which I was able to clearly see and understand a different picture: of both advocacy and identity intersections. I was especially struck by the protest art responding to the AIDS epidemic of the 80’s and 90’s and the lack of interest/support from the general public. 

The works of art, parallel the intention of the famous play, Angels in America by Tony Kushner. The characters, are all looking for a sense of identity, one that involves various aspects of their life, including religion and sexuality. But, it is also an attempt to address the AIDS epidemic. The goal of both the play and art pieces were to present these issues into the public sphere while protesting the government and other aspects of our society that tried to silence and continue oppression. There’s a similar idea behind them, but the art exhibit does so through an ethnic lens, much different than the one we read about in Angels in America. 

These exhibit’s photographs, magazines, drawings and paintings were created and influenced by the Chicano Art Movement. The art movement was highly influenced and stemmed from the U.S. Chicano Movement or El Movimiento. El Movimiento was an effort to raise chicano empowerment, an act of both protest and embracement - the chicano civil rights movement during the 60’s (Chicano! A History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement). There was a push for farmer worker rights, voting rights and enhanced education among many others. Another important push, the need for recognition, legitimacy and acceptance of the LGBT community in chicano/latino spaces. This push, both the protest and embracement found it’s way into chicano art, creating powerful pieces that would then become pivotal to L.A. AIDS advocacy and activism. 

The art exhibits pertaining to AIDS activism were of four different types: a way to spread awareness among the latino gay community, a protest against the government’s negligence to recognize the epidemic, a depiction of what the disease was/did and a source of identity reclamation/empowerment. Although all are important as to having a sense of the AIDS epidemic and what that meant, I found two exhibits to be the most authentic, honest and challenging. The first was a painting, The Neglected Martyr, created by Gerardo Velázquez - the United States flag is upside down and there’s an image of an erotic icon - Saint Sebastian. On the informational plaque, it is stated that Velázquez attacks the Reagan Era for it’s negligence to recognize the epidemic. The second, was a set of three photographs, Equipped, by Zoe Leonard. In these images, he uses assistance devices to depict what happens to someone when they contract aids. In the images, he has replaced body parts like his legs and butt to a wheelchair and walker. It allows people to see and perhaps conceptualize how devastating it was to contract AIDS; it served to humanize and communicate the nature of the disease. 

     As I continued the exhibit, I couldn’t help but think of a song my dad had showed me before. “En la sala de un hospital, de una extraña enfermedad murió Simón, es el verano del ’86. Al enfermo de la cama 10, nadine lloró / In the hospital bedroom, Simon died from a strange disease during the summer of ’86. To the sick man of bed 10, not a single person cried for him.” As a child, I never quite understood the song, and it wasn’t until today that I made the connection. I finally understood it. The salsa hit, was a protest, a way to talk about the AIDS epidemic through a different artistic medium. This connection made it especially powerful because I grew up listening to the song in Spanish, it was a form of resistance and protest. Chicanos/Latinos were far more involved that I had ever realized. And even though we don’t talk about it, latinos and chicanos were involved and tried to be agents of change. It was reassuring, not only see how I could fit in more to the community but see the involvement from a different ethnic lens an platform, ones that we don’t necessarily talk/know about.