Description
Book SynopsisArlene Dávila draws on numerous interviews with artists, dealers, and curators to explore how and why the contemporary international art market continues to overlook, devalue, and marginalize Latinx art and artists.
Trade Review“In this current moment of national rupture surrounding the Latino immigrant it is ironic that the new focus on Latinx artists and communities should come to the forefront as a powerful cultural movement. Arlene Dávila’s new work on Latinx art is a timely examination of the complex issues of cultural definition, art markets, race and representation, and geopolitical reference points. In the embattled world of diverse art and artists Dávila's book provides a map of clarity.” -- Amalia Mesa-Bains, MacArthur fellow and coauthor of * Homegrown: Engaged Cultural Criticism *
“Kudos to Arlene Dávila, founding director of the Latinx Project at New York University, and the only person who could have written this groundbreaking new book! First, identifying Latinx, perhaps most importantly, as a political constituency and as a market for art historical appreciation and consumption, Dávila makes the case for a singular recognition and consideration of a massive (and rapidly growing) part of American culture. While highlighting intersectionality in her exploration of Latinx identity, she is an astute documentarian of shared experiences in the American landscape. Yet, this book is a must-have primer for those concerned with trends in international contemporary art.” -- Franklin Sirmans, Director, Pérez Art Museum Miami
"An indispensable text that considers the plights of Latinx artists through the lens of race and class disparities in both North and South America. . . . Dávila’s text is a vital resource on Latinx art, complete with a supplemented 'non-comprehensive list of artists everyone should know' and recommendations of Latinx Instagram accounts to follow." -- Valentina Di Liscia * Hyperallergic *
"The marketing of modern and contemporary art from Latin America is one of the success stories of the globalist decades, giving a once-niche interest a presence in big North American museums. Exactly the opposite is true of Latinx art, loosely defined as work made by artists of Latin American birth or descent who live primarily in the United States. That lack of institutional support is dictated by the politics of class, economics and race, the cultural anthropologist Arlene Dávila argues in this important broadside of a book." -- Holland Cotter * New York Times *
"An outstanding contribution to the field of Latinx art, this book addresses the defining traits of the art category and its place in the contemporary art world. . . . The wide range of Latinx art experts she interviews, from artists, curators, writers, critics and gallerists, draw the contours of a remarkably vibrant cultural field that is still undervalued. Her analysis not only dissects the conditions of Latinx artistic invisibility; it also proposes a path of action to overcome them and to create a more equitable art system." -- Taína Caragol * Smithsonian Magazine *
"With deep research and details about the ways in which the market continues to overlook and undervalue the work of Latinx artists, Arlene Dávila’s
Latinx Art is one of this year’s most important contributions to the art world as a whole. . . . That this book exists is itself an important milestone in the struggle for equity in the art world." -- Maximilíano Durón * ARTnews *
"Arlene Dávila advances a groundbreaking analysis of Latinx art in the way she centers on matters of race, class, and nationality as primordial to understanding this category. . . . As a scholar independent of the art world’s social circuit, Dávila describes in great detail the ingrained power dynamics that deny institutional access to Latinx artists. In doing so, she delivers an unprecedented service to the field, considering the silencing force exerted by hierarchical structures that traverse the art world, and the artists’ reliance on good relations with gatekeepers in order to have any shot at exhibition and market spaces." -- Taína Caragol * Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture *
“
Latinx Art is appropriate for new and nonacademic audiences, because Dávila is one of the most accessible scholarly authors. . . . A must-read for Latinx studies students and scholars and beyond.” -- Karen Mary Davalos * Latino Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments & Reader Instructions vii
Introduction. Making Latinx Art 1
1. What Is Latinx Art? Lessons from Chicanx and Diasporican Artists 23
2. Exhibiting Latinx Art: On Critics, Curators, and Going "Beyond the Formula" 48
3. Nationalism and the Currency of Categories 79
4. On Markets and the Need for Cheerleaders 104
5. Whitewashing at Work, and Some Ways Out 138
Conclusion: At the Vanguard of Arts and Museum Activism in the Twenty-First Century 168
Appendix A: Noncomprehensive List of Artists Everyone Should Know 177
Appendix B: Additional Resources 185
Notes 189
References 203
Index 223
