Xican–a.o.x. Body

Xican–a.o.x. Body

organized by the Amercian Federation of the Arts and curated by Cecilia Fajardo-Hill, Gilbert Vicario, & Marissa Del Toro

VENUE #1 – The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, Riverside, CA, 2023
VENUE #2 – Perez Art Museum Miami, FL, 2024

Xican–a.o.x. Body, the first major art exhibition to examine influential works that foreground the Brown body as a site to explore, expand, and complicate traditional conceptions linked to Mexican, Mexican American, and Xicanx experiences Xican–a.o.x. Body weaves a rich tapestry of diverse media, from the late 1960s through today, including Lowrider cars, poetry, pottery, painting, photography, sculpture, and film, consisting of 125 artworks by 70 artists and artist collectives.

The first major art exhibition to examine influential works that foreground the Brown body as a site to explore, expand, and complicate traditional conceptions linked to Mexican, Mexican American, and Xicanx experiences launched its national tour at The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in 2023. Organized by The American Federation of Arts (AFA), Xican–a.o.x. Body weaves a rich tapestry of diverse media, from the late 1960s through today, including Lowrider cars, poetry, pottery, painting, photography, sculpture, and film. Consisting of approximately 125 artworks by about 70 artists and artist collectives, Xican–a.o.x. Body continued its tour to the Perez Art Museum Miami, FL.

Xican–a.o.x. Body adds complexity to understandings of Chicanx art and culture by exploring the visual practices that foreground the body as the site in which imagination and political enunciation are articulated. The artists in the exhibition celebrate the creativity of decolonized political personas that are playful, unapologetic, and irreverent. These multidisciplinary perspectives erase any presumed hierarchy between popular art and what has traditionally been thought of as “high art.”

The curatorial framework of Xican-a.o.x. Body draws from the idea of the Brown Commons, a term that was coined by the writer José Esteban Muñoz. According to Muñoz’s definition, Brownness is articulated as a feeling and experience of people who exist within an “in-betweenness” and are thus read as Other. Another important framework stems from the idea of Xicanisma, a term that was conceived by the writer and poet Anna Castillo to define a socioeconomic and culturally specific type of Chicana feminism. Xican-a.o.x. Body features conceptual, experimental, and pioneering works from the late 1960s to the present using a diverse range of media—from poetry and ceramics to painting, photography, sculpture, film, performance, and drawings—that enlighten our understanding of Xicanx art and culture.

Artists in Xican-a.o.x. Body include Laura Aguilar, Celia Álvarez Muñoz, Asco (Harry Gamboa Jr., Gronk, Willie Herrón III, and Patssi Valdez, 1972–82), Mario Ayala, Judith F. Baca, Alice Bag, Julia Barbosa Landois, Ariana Brown, Nao Bustamante, William Camargo, Barbara Carrasco, Charlie Cartwright (Good Time Charlie), Mel Casas, Isabel Castro, Yreina D. Cervántez, Enrique Chagoya, Artemisa Clark, Liz Cohen, Adriana Corral, Camilo Cruz, Cyclona, Ms. Vaginal Davis, Albert De Alba Sr., Sandra de la Loza, Natalie Diaz with Mohammed Hammad, Alex Donis, Frances Salomé España, rafa esparza, Justin Favela, Christina Fernandez, Diane Gamboa, Maria Gaspar, Jay Lynn Gomez, Ken Gonzales-Day, Alfonso Gonzalez Jr., Fabian Guerrero, Ester Hernandez, Sebastian Hernández, Celia Herrera Rodríguez, Salomón Huerta, Luis Jiménez, Alma López, Yolanda López, Richard A. Lou, James Luna, Narsiso Martinez, Patrick Martinez, Delilah Montoya, Malaquias Montoya, Chuco Moreno, Gabriela Muñoz, Marcos Raya, Sandy Rodriguez, Gabriela Ruiz, Sylvia Salazar Simpson, Shizu Saldamando, Teddy Sandoval, Tamara Santibañez, The Q-Sides (Vero Majano, Amy Martinez, and Kari Orvik), Walter Thompson-Hernández, John Valadez, Patssi Valdez, Linda Vallejo, Ricardo Valverde, Kathy Vargas, and José Villalobos.