HB Art Center presents Rasquachismo
by: Visit HB
Published: April 22, 2024
HUNTINGTON BEACH...The Huntington Beach Art Center 538 Main Street presents Rasquachismo, an exhibition examining the role of lowriders as a cultural vehicle for Chicano communities. The show narrative presents artwork centered on the workforce, manual labor, and empowerment through creative expression. Vibrant paintings, a lowrider piñata, print-making, and original photography capture a movement unique to Southern California.
Rasquachismo is a term coined by Chicano scholar and art critic Tomás Ybarra-Frausto to describe “an underdog perspective, a view from los de abajo” (from below) in working class Chicano communities which uses elements of “hybridization, juxtaposition, and integration” as a means of empowerment and resistance. The exhibiting artists reflect the spirit of Rasquachismo through the elevation of mundane mediums and the endurance of Chicano narratives.
Unapologetically visible, lowriders glisten in candy-colored paint and dance with the aid of hydraulics. The power of lowriding extends beyond the car's aesthetics, however. It has become a rasquachismo expression of Mexican-American, and, eventually, Chicano identity. ~ Laura Black, guest curator
The selected artists employ a practice that depict labor-intensive work of the lowriders’ performative nature, paying homage to the working hand, historical craft traditions, and professions rooted in labor.
Organized by guest curator Laura Black, Golden West College Gallery Director, Rasquachismo features artworks by contemporary artists William Camargo, Alkaid Ramirez, Justin Favela, Stephanie Mercado, Arturo Meza II, Aaron Moctezuma, José Manuel Flores Nava, Juliana Rico, Alicia Villegas-Rolon, and Cora J. Quiroz.
When:
4/23/2024, 4/24/2024, 4/25/2024, 4/26/2024, 4/27/2024, 4/30/2024, 5/1/2024, 5/2/2024, 5/3/2024, 5/4/2024, 5/7/2024, 5/8/2024, 5/9/2024, 5/10/2024, 5/11/2024, 5/14/2024, 5/15/2024, 5/16/2024, 5/17/2024, 5/18/2024, 5/21/2024, 5/22/2024, 5/23/2024, 5/24/2024, 5/25/2024, 5/28/2024, 5/29/2024, 5/30/2024, 5/31/2024, 6/1/2024