Emigdio Vasquez

Chicano Gothic is a 6 ft. x 20 ft. acrylic-on-cement mural located in the enclosed outdoor swimming pool area in Memorial Park, depicting the Orange County Chicano/Chicana working class in their dominant industries.  On the far left, an elderly man represents the fruit pickers in the citrus groves, and to his right a younger worker holds a hammer, perhaps as a factory worker or craftsman. In the center, a farmer stands next to his wife and young child. Behind is a lush green field where workers are bent over as they tend to it, and a large factory protrudes from the background as its large tower omits a plume of dark gray smoke that covers the sky. On the far right, a small house rests in front of the Santa Ana Mountains. The name “Chicano Gothic” and the portrait-like image of the farmer and his wife mimic Grant Wood’s iconic 1930 painting American Gothic. Like Wood's painting, the subjects of Vasquez’s Chicano Gothic have long, somber faces. In American Gothic, the man stands to the right and in front of the woman; however, in Vasquez's mural the woman stands on the right and side-by-side with the man, suggesting a disruption of traditional American gender roles. The workers’ humble blue clothing represents the blue-collar Chicano/Chicana working class, and Chicano Gothic is one of several murals that nods to Vasquez’s socialist ideology. Influenced by the contemporary realism movement, Vasquez sought to portray the working class not as idealized subjects, but as realistic portraits of the blue-collar Chicano/Chicana community in Orange County. However, the mural is also critical and satirical interpretation of American and Chicano culture. Vasquez was very critical of the predominantly white class that controlled the low wages and poor working conditions of the working class. He vehemently defended the blue-collar Chicanos/Chicanas, and Chicana Gothic shows the proud, hardworking, family-centered attitudes of his community. By doing so, Vasquez counters the kind of traditional image seen Wood’s American Gothic, subverting American mainstream culture by celebrating Chicano culture.

Designed by internationally known artist and muralist, Emigdio Vasquez, The Legacy of Cesar Chavez mural was produced exclusively for Santa Ana College. The mural is a continuation of Vasquez’s many works that depict the urban experience of working class Chicanos. Through this art and others, Vasquez aims to convey a powerful sense of the human struggle for dignity within the Hispanic experience of 20th and 21st century America. Of the many murals he has created, Vasquez considers The Legacy of Cesar Chavez his favorite. "As a tribute to Cesar Chavez, I wanted to paint a heroic and poignant mural that would celebrate his life. I have depicted Cesar Chavez surrounded by some of his compatriots in the farm workers movement, like Dolores Huerta, Luis Valdez, and Fred Ross. Just as important, however, I decided to include anonymous images of people from the working class, the people loved by Cesar Chavez. He adhered to the ideal that working people are not beasts of burden, but are human beings deserving of respect, dignity, and social justice. Cesar Chavez dedicated his life to this ideal, he engaged in a ferocious struggle to improve the lives of the campesinos who toil in the fields. His struggles and accomplishments leave an important legacy that will forever be recorded in the annals of American Labor History. Cesar Chavez will be honored in history by his inclusion in that pantheon of heroes and martyrs of the American working class." -Emigdio Vasquez Sources: 1. Sal Rojas, "Santa Ana College, Orange County. Mural by Emigdio Vasquez," BrownPride.com.