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Barkan’s collection of Chicano murals shed light on California public art
One thing that people often try to claim about Los Angeles is that it lacks native art—most of the art in museums is transplanted from the East Coast and Europe. Much of the art that was created in California historically was by artists from New York who moved to California later in their careers. However, one thing no one can take away from California is the amazing history of Chicano art and culture created here. An excellent collection of “first wave” Chicano muralists is on exhibit now at the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (RAFFMA). This exhibition of photography reads like a survey, but it is actually all the work of one man.
The movement of Chicano artists creating stunning murals throughout the LA area mostly started in 1969, and by coincidence this was the year after another New York transplant moved here: Dr. Elliott Barkan. Speaking to Dr. Barkan, one gets a strong sense of the time he was working in, and his passion for the art he found in Los Angeles. Barkan had worked his way through school driving a cab in New York, and while there started taking photos of some of the ethnic neighborhoods he discovered driving the cab. After his move to the West Coast, he began taking photos again: “the one thing that stood out the most of all was the murals by young Chicanos and Chicanas.” Dr. Barkan soon began photographing these purposefully: “if I heard about a mural being created, I would drive into LA as fast as I could . . .” In this way he was able to document the creation of the murals in a way no one else was.
Barkan explained why he almost exclusively photographed outdoor murals: “in buildings lighting fixtures got in the way,” and they were well-covered by other photographers. Furthermore, these pieces often remained in good condition for years, if not until present day, so there was plenty of time to photograph them. Part of the beauty of the outdoor murals was their ephemeral nature, because it was only a matter of time before they were damaged or covered completely.
Most of the artists were in their twenties and thirties and Barkan was shocked they could create these complicated murals. He took hundreds of photographs, and because of the diversity of the subjects and cultural specificities in the murals, he had to familiarize himself with much more than just the murals. “It took me a while to decipher the themes in the murals . . .,” he said. The murals oftentimes depicted Aztecs, settlers to Mexico, revolution, and other scenes from Mexican history. The themes would also “. . . continue through to the present time and would show scenes from life in Los Angeles.”
Lead by Example
Many artists during the early period were also looking at history, and show influence from the Mexican Muralists. For example, “David Botello went down to Mexico City and looked at the art of the muralists,” but other young Chicano artists were just learning about the muralists in classes at City College. Another artist who referenced these themes was “Ernesto de La Roza, he traveled the world, especially Spain, where he saw these themes.”
When studying these themes from the period he was photographing and modern day, Barkan noticed a marked shift. During an earlier period the themes seemed to hover around a specific community experience, “a number of murals concentrated on gangs, drugs, pollution, and highways—they were talking about their lives, and their choices between gangs and drugs or education and community.” These themes shifted with current events, some focused on the riots of 1970 and 1971, or expressed support for farm workers. “Many had this subject; a reflection of this theme.” More recently, he has noticed mural themes have turned to Cesar Chavez and farm workers, “. . . the heroes of the revolution,” he said. One great example of this is the project organized by Judy Baca to paint the Tujunga Wash. She received funding to depict a 1000 ft. long history of LA in mural form which included some the Chicano history, but not all.
Dr. Barkan began photographing these murals in 1969, and stopped in 1984, when he decided the movement was in decline. A few things led to his decision to stop documenting. In 1984, the Olympics-themed murals were growing in hype. “I documented an amazing piece created for the Coliseum that would be one of the buildings to house the Olympics, called La Reina de Los Angeles,” this mural was 75 ft. long and 35 ft. high. He managed to get to this mural before any buildings were in the way and he has one of the only photographs of this mural unimpeded. However, he began to notice Chicanos weren’t creating as many murals; others had started creating them instead. Also funding began to die out during this time, and it wasn’t until the creation of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA) that funding was renewed.
A Record Save
These photos languished for years, stored securely but out of sight by Dr. Barkan. He knew his collection was good, and when he went to a group started by famous Chicano artist Judith Baca called the Social Political Art Resources Center (SPARC). They struck a deal—they would get his original slides of all the works for their records, and they would give him a digital copy of all the pieces, which were much more useful to him by that point. They recognized what he had begun to by then—his collection was priceless. Part of the reason his collection was so unparalleled was that he “carefully stored his photographs in trays, which kept them safe from heat or moisture.” Oftentimes these photographs are also the best record of murals that have since been greatly damaged. In many cases, Dr. Barkan discovered his photographs were actually extremely useful, “. . . the only documentation of certain pieces, or they were better than any photograph the artists themselves might have.” This made the collection extremely valuable.
These photographs have been shown only a few times before, but the show up now at the RAFFMA in affiliation with CSU San Bernadino is the most complete. Eva Kirsch explained how important exhibitions like this are within the larger community. “Although the museum has a very fine collection of Egyptian art, we also make it a goal to run shows that will attract locals,” she said. Last year, RAFFMA ran a show on skateboards, and this year they thought this show would attract locals but also be more than just a local show, since the art depicted in the photos is from all over Southern California. Kirsch explained the approach succinctly, “we’re trying to reach out to as many segments of the community as possible.” This show is an excellent way to achieve this goal, because not only will it appeal to the Chicano population, but to Californians as a whole.
When Dr. Elliott Barkan met with Eva Kirsch, he wanted one of the goals of the exhibition to be finding the artists who created some of the pieces that were authorless, even more than 30 years later. At the reception his goal was realized, many artists coming forward, and he also got to meet many of the artists he had documented but never met. This was important because Barkan had kept tabs on the murals and knew many were damaged, proving his record of the pieces would be invaluable to the artists. In many cases he photographed the state of the murals after 25 years to document their deterioration and the abysmal way they were maintained by the city.
Creation and Destruction
The elements that damaged these murals were varied, from environmental changes to graffiti and tagging by LA gangs. However, some things were still sacred: “I noticed there was one thing very consistent—when [the murals] were of La Virgen de Guadalupe no one tagged them.” Insights like this are things that no historian can tell you, only someone who lived through the movement and knew the artists personally and saw the art as it was being created could. This first-hand experience is what makes the show at RAFFMA so powerful.
The show that resulted from the meeting between Barkan and Kirsch was “Chicano Muralists in Southern California, 1968-1985: The First Generation of a Cultural Revolution — Through the Camera of Elliott Robert Barkan,” and it features some of the most well-known artists of the Chicano Art movement, including Judy Baca, Charles “Cat” Felix Jr., Gronk, Willie Herron and David Lopez. Also in the show are many more artists that are not well known, or even known at all—but that have created equally beautiful and striking murals. Surveying the art from this collection the sense of history, culture and talent is undeniable.
This exhibition is especially revolutionary, because in the late 1960s the Chicano movement was happening, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that it was defined as a movement. Public art oftentimes “involved local young people, even gang members, often in east LA; not the best neighborhoods,” Eva Kirsch explained. At one point this art had no respect within the art world, but the currents have changed and now art that celebrates diversity and other cultures is celebrated, and Dr. Barkan’s photos are a goldmine within this current.
In the ever-shifting world of art, trends and movements come and go quickly, but some art has staying power, and gets inserted into the cannon of art history. The movements that people are still talking about, influenced by, and showing works from 30 years later are a pretty safe bet to end up in the history books. The Chicano movement is already included as a part of California history, so it is likely these photographs by Dr. Barkan will continue to be vitally important into the future. His story is a great lesson for everyone: document artwork you find compelling, because you never know how long it will be around, or how important it will end up being.
“Chicano Muralists in Southern California, 1968-1985: The First Generation of a Cultural Revolution — Through the Camera of Elliott Robert Barkan” at RAFFMA 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, (909) 537-7373. www.raffma.csusb.edu. Through May 25. Admission is free. Suggested donation is $3.