“PROTEST” Highlights Women of Color

As a child, Ever Velasquez accompanied her mother to several protests, in support of everything from immigrant rights, civil rights, women’s rights, and queer rights. At 36, Velasquez—an L.A.-born artist, community organizer, zine maker, and writer—continues to protest and also creates work that is both political and spiritual.

Her painting “Listen”— part of a group exhibit called “Protest” at Art Share L.A.— portrays a Black woman covering a white woman’s mouth with her hand. Right above them, the words “YOUR ONLY JOB IS TO LISTEN” are painted in black.

Velasquez’ experience at the L.A. Women’s March last year inspired the piece. She went with a group of friends and noticed that some white women tried to start arguments with them.

“We took the march as an opportunity to speak about everything that is troubling us — with what’s going on in the government and in the U.S. — and we were cheering for everybody,” Velasquez said. “When they would hear us say, ‘Black Lives Matter,’ they would ask, ‘Why are they singing that if it’s a women’s march?’”

Protest features 20 artists’ explorations of protest signs from different perspectives. Three artists in particular — Louis Jacinto, Kiara Machado, in addition to Velasquez — depict what it means to be a woman of color fighting to be heard in a country that often ignores them.

“It’s awesome seeing people taking their anger and putting it in either really beautiful ways or clever ways,” said Katie Frager, program manager at Art Share L.A. “So we wanted to have an art show inspired by those [signs] but also provide an outlet for people.”

Velasquez wanted to create a piece so simple that viewers would have no choice but to pay attention to her message. She painted a Black woman to represents all Black and Afro-Latinx women who are underrepresented and overlooked as leaders in civil rights movements.

“A lot of times [allies] don’t listen and they need to advertise what they feel that they are doing as allies,” she said. “Let’s listen to each other and be more patient.”

***

Louis Jacinto was 19 years old when he began taking pictures in 1975. He moved to Los Angeles from Bakersfield, CA to start his third year of college at Cal State University, Los Angeles (CSULA). A lot of his work captured L.A.’s Punk Rock music scene in the late 70s.

His black and white photograph, “Angela Davis,” was taken in 1978 at CSULA. Davis — radical feminist, activist, and former Black Panther Party member — is sitting on a stage with five empty chairs next to her. She’s facing the camera and seems to be mid-sentence.

She was speaking at an event with the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression. Above her, a banner spells out the name of the organization, as well as the slogan, “HUMAN RIGHTS for ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS.”

The NAARPR was founded in 1973 and grew out of the nationwide “Free Angela Davis” movement that began when she was charged with murder in 1970.

Jacinto was a sociology student at CSULA when he photographed Davis. It was his first time hearing her speak, so he took a bunch of pictures.

“The [photograph] stood out to me because it [was] 1978, she was still fighting, in this case, for prison reform, [and] she was the only one on the stage. As if everyone had left or didn’t care about anything anymore,” he said. “She was the only one there still fighting.”

A couple years later, Jacinto saw Davis again at another event at UCLA. This time, he introduced himself and gave her a print of the photograph. She took a glimpse of it halfway out of the envelope, he said, but was quickly whisked away into a crowd full of people eager to speak with her.

Jacinto believes that it’s important to always point out the truth. According to him, photography is one of the most powerful ways of doing that.

“We see how so many things have come to light because individuals have photographed them or videotaped them because they have the instruments via their cellphones,” he said.

“The truth continues to come out and cut through anything … we are the ones who are saying no.”

***

Kiara Machado, 24, is a Salvadoran-Guatemalan artist whose work focuses on intersectional identities and the erasure of  Central Americans in the U.S.. Her painting, a self-portrait titled “Frustacions de Una Centroamericano,” was inspired by her frustration with not being understood as a Central American artist.

Surrounded by objects representing her Salvadoran and Guatemalan cultural identity — maps of Central America, El Salvador, and Guatemala; mangos and other tropical fruit; and Central American slang written on the wall — Machado is standing naked in her room with tears falling from her face.

Machado said that as a Latinx artist, she often sees her work being mistaken as Chicano/Chicanx art, which is why she added the words “This is not Chicano art” to her piece.

“Frustacions de Una Centroamericano” was Machado’s school project when she was an undergraduate studying Drawing and Painting at Long Beach State University. She wanted to express her pride in being Salvadoran and Guatemalan, but her professor and classmates didn’t quite understand her work. One classmate — a white woman — told Machado that she shouldn’t paint about issues only concerning Latinx people, but rather focus more on universal issues through her art.

Her professor questioned the importance of the Central American slang. He said there was too much going on in the piece and wasn’t sure whether every object was necessary.

Machado cried out of frustration when she got her critique. She believes it’s really hard for people to understand the erasure experienced by Central Americans because they lack knowledge of Mexico and Central America.

“So I was like, I’m gonna totally dismiss that because that’s the whole reason why [I don’t see] Central American artists or their issues being discussed in fine arts spaces,” said Machado.

Machado’s self-portrait is a protest in itself. It’s a protest against her classmates’ comments and against white institutions that dismiss her experiences and misunderstand why it’s important for her to depict herself the way that she did

“I was like, you know what, they’re gonna see full Central American in their face,” she said. “Just showing the pride that I have.”

“Protest” is on view through Nov. 4 at Art Share L.A., 801 E. 4th Place, Los Angeles. Call (213) 687-4278 or visit artsharela.org for gallery hours.