In this presentation, Jesus Barraza will position the trajectory of the Xicanx Art Movement as a multi-generational endeavor that has not only informed his art practice but has helped him mentor a future generation of artists. He will trace the origins of a Xicanx Social Practice Methodology that was grounded in a detribalized Indigenismo identity developed by Xicanx artist of the 1970s. Their aim was using art to heal communities of colonial traumas by reconnecting them with their ancestral culture. Barraza will explore how his own art is an outgrowth of this movement, along with Third World Feminist Thought, building on the methodologies established by earlier generations of artists. Lastly, he will reflect on his role and responsibility in sharing knowledge he has gained from working with older generations of artists with emerging artists.

BIO

Jesus Barraza is an activist printmaker based in San Leandro, California. Using bold colors and high contrast images, his prints reflect both his local and global community and their resistance in a struggle to create a new world. 

Barraza has worked closely with numerous community organizations to create prints that visualize struggles for immigration rights, housing, education, and international solidarity.  In 1998 Barraza was a co-founder of ten12, a collective of digital artists. He has also worked as Graphic Designer for the Mission Cultural Center/Mission Grafica, where Calixto Robles, Juan R. Fuentes and Michael Roman mentored Barraza in various screen-printing methods. In 2003, he co-founded the Taller Tupac Amaru printing studio to foster resurgence in the screen-printing medium, where he has printed over 400 editions. Additionally he is a partner at Tumis Inc., a bilingual design studio helping to integrate art with emerging technologies. 

Printmaking allows Barraza to produce relevant images that can be put back into the hands of his community and spread throughout the world. He believes that through this work and the work of Dignidad Rebelde, he is playing a role in keeping the history of graphic art activism alive.  He proudly continues the tradition of graphic art in the spirit of Jose Gaudalupe Posada, OSPAAAL and Juan R. Fuentes, whose artwork has been a pivotal part of social movements.