LACMA

CHICANO, A USAGE PROBLEM For the definition of Chicano in the American Heritage Dictionary, the first words that appear are: Usage Problem. After the perfunctory definition, "A Mexican American," the dictionary warns, "Care should be taken in using the term Chicano when referring to Mexican Americans." Interestingly, there is no entry for Mexican American, making Chicano a word that runs into a semantic dead end within the dictionary (and, by extension, language): it refers to a meaning that is simply not there, and it is given no history other than that of an unexplained "usage problem." In any case, there are also no entries for Puerto Rican, Cuban American, or Dominican, but there is a lengthy entry for Cajun. Instead, Hispanic is identified as the "entirely acceptable" term for all people of Latin American and Spanish descent—a bold assertion to make with respect to the naming of social groups. 3 In considering Chicano art we have a similar "usage problem." Indeed, four decades after the social movement that first named and debated the term, Chicano art remains a marginalized category within the art world. 4 Thus, more than anything else, the term effectively describes the art and artists left out of public exhibition, permanent collections, critical discourse, and canon formation. The ideal function of such a term—to incite discourse about artistic production—has never been realized, as it has for American art, black art, feminist art, and gay/lesbian or queer art. At the same time, Chicano artists have not been integrated into the art world in a "color blind" fashion, either—that is, as artists who just happened to be of Mexican descent. And so perhaps the American Heritage Dictionary offers an insightful instruction: here is the term, but it has a usage problem, and care should be taken in using it. 17 THE ORPHANS OF MODERNISM CHON A. NORIEGA • Asco, Instant Mural, 1974 When someone does not belong to the dominant culture and yet comes up with concepts and/or theories that are equal to other ideas in the market, he is generally overlooked and not taken seriously by those who are in fact agents provocateurs of that culture, such as art critics, curators, and museum directors. 1 — HARRY GAMBOA JR. There is a correct way and a wrong way of committing violence against another individual. The first thing you must do is not view them as an individual… 2 — HARRY GAMBOA JR.

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