50 Years of Chicano Studies At SDSU Celebrated With Exhibition

SAN DIEGO, CA – Salvador Torres, one of the pillars of Chicano art since the 1970s, will be honored Saturday with an exhibition of his works as San Diego State celebrates 50 years of its Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies.

The university is celebrating those 50 years with "Chicano/a/x Printmaking: Making Prints and Making History -- 50 Years of Art Activism," a multi-site art exhibition appreciating decades of struggle and spirit of revolution.

Torres, raised in Barrio Logan and an SDSU graduate, will be the first artist in the exhibit, featured Saturday evening at The FRONT Arte Cultura in San Ysidro. Torres is perhaps best known for his mural work at Barrio Logan's Chicano Park and as one of the founding members of the Chicano Park movement. A selection of his prints will give art fans, historians and activists alike a look into his art process and the life and growth of Barrio Logan.

"Chicano/a/x Printmaking" presents a selection of linoleum cuts, monoprints, screenprints, and woodblock prints that manifest community concerns and dreams, pride and cultural affirmation, and the use of art as an agent for change. Produced by individual artists and collectives, the artworks provoke discussion on relevant and urgent issues. Topics include racism, family separation, violence and border walls, among others.

The exhibits are drawn largely from the Gilberto Cardenas and Dolores Garcia Collection of Latino Art. With a distinctive focus on Chicano/a/x printmaking, the collection includes individual works as well as complete portfolios by Chicano/a/x artists in its holdings of more than 10,000 objects. Artists and groups in the exhibition include Yreina Cervantes, Rupert Garcia, Diane Gamboa, Ester Hernandez, Malaquias Montoya, Victor Ochoa and Self Help Graphics & Art.

The university's exhibits will run until April 5 at sites including SDSU's main campus, SDSU's downtown campus and Centro Cultural de la Raza.

For more information, visit art.sdsu.edu/chicano-a-x-printmaking- making-prints-and-making-history-50-years-of-art-activism.

—City News Service