VOLUME 01
RESISTING CATEGORIES:
LATIN AMERICAN AND / OR LATINO?

FOREWORD

BY GWENDOLYN H. GOFFE

FUNDERS OF THE ICAA DIGITAL ARCHIVE AND BOOK SERIES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CRITICAL DOCUMENTS OF 20TH-CENTURY LATIN AMERICAN AND LATINO ART

A DIGITAL ARCHIVE AND PUBLICATIONS PROJECT

BY MARI CARMEN RAMÍREZ

PROJECT ADMINISTRATION, STAFF, AND CONSULTANTS

A BRIEF GUIDE TO USING VOLUME I

NOTES ON THE SELECTION, PRESENTATION, EDITING, AND ANNOTATION OF TEXTS

RESISTING CATEGORIES

BY HÉCTOR OLEA, MARI CARMEN RAMÍREZ, AND TOMÁS YBARRA-FRAUSTO

CHAPTER I THE CONTINENTAL UTOPIA

INTRODUCTION BY HÉCTOR OLEA

I.1. America as a Utopian Refraction

I.1.1 Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered in the Indian Sea
Christopher Columbus, 1493

I.1.2 Utopia
Thomas More, 1516

I.1.3 New Atlantis
Sir Francis Bacon, 1623

I.1.4 Machu Picchu: The Discovery
Hiram Bingham, 1911

I.1.5 The Christening of America
Alfonso Reyes, 1942

I.1.6 The March of Utopias
Oswald de Andrade, 1953

I.1.7 The Invention of America
Edmundo O’Gorman, 1961

I.2. The Invention of an Operative Concept

I.2.1 The Latin American States

• Letter to His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon III

Charles (Carlos) Calvo, 1862

• Letter from M. Thouvenel, Minister Of The French Foreign Office, to Charles (Carlos) Calvo

Édouard Thouvenel, 1862

• Latin America

Charles (Carlos) Calvo, 1862

I.2.2 Ancient and Modern Mexico
Michel Chevalier, 1863

I.2.3 The Latin Democracies in America

• Preface to Francisco García Calderón’s The Latin Democracies in America

Raymond Poincaré, 1912

• The Latin Democracies in America

Francisco García Calderón, 1912

I.2.4 To what extent is there a Latin America?
André Siegfried, 1934

I.2.5 Latin America
Mário de Andrade, 1934

I.2.6 Does Latin America Exist?
Luis Alberto Sánchez, 1945

I.2.7 Luis Alberto Sánchez’s Book: Is There Just One Latin America?
Fernand Braudel, 1948

I.2.8 Latin American Unity
Jean Casimir, 1969

I.2.9 Does Latin America Exist?
Darcy Ribeiro, 1976

I.2.10 The Invention of an Operative Concept: The Latin-ness of America
Guy Martinière, 1978

I.2.11 Latin America: An Introduction to Far-Western Identity
Alain Rouquié, 1987

I.3. Nuestra América, the Multi-Homeland

I.3.1 Letter from Lope de Aguirre, Rebel, to King Philip of Spain
Lope de Aguirre, 1561

I.3.2 Reply of a South American to a Gentleman of this Island (Jamaica)
Simón Bolívar, 1815

I.3.3 The Latin American Multi-Homeland
José Maria Torres Caicedo, 1864–65

I.3.4 Our America
José Martí, 1891

I.3.5 Latin America—Evils of Origin (Summary)
Manoel de Bomfim, 1905

I.3.6 Latin American Perspectives
José Veríssimo, 1912

I.3.7 The Creation of a Continent
Francisco García Calderón, 1912

I.3.8 Letter to the Youth of Colombia
José Vasconcelos, 1923

I.3.9 The Beginnings of an American Culture
Albert Zum Felde, 1924

I.4. Is América a No-Place?

I.4.1 Latin America—Evils of Origin (Conclusion)
Manoel de Bomfim, 1905

I.4.2 Indology
José Vasconcelos, 1926

I.4.3 First Message to Hispanic America
Waldo Frank, 1930

I.4.4 Guardians of the Quill
Alfonso Reyes, 1930

I.4.5 The Destiny of America
Alfonso Reyes, 1942

I.4.6 The Actual Function of Philosophy in Latin America
Leopoldo Zea, 1942

I.5. Tensions at Stake

I.5.1 Latin America
Charles Malato, 1902

I.5.2 Toward an Efficient Latin America
Pedro Figari, 1925

I.5.3 Barren Imperialism
Pablo Rojas Paz, 1927

I.5.4 – I.5.6

CONTROVERSY ON THE OPPOSITE POLES OF OUR CULTURE

I.5.4 Which Culture Will Create Latin America: The Mexican Parameter or the Argentinean One?
Antenor Orrego, 1928

I.5.5 Autochthonism and Europeanism
Martí Casanovas, 1928

I.5.6 Americanism and Peruvianism
Antenor Orrego, 1928

I.5.7 The Anthropophagous Manifesto
Oswald de Andrade, 1928

I.6. Does Brazil Belong to Latin America?

I.6.1 Brazil in the Americas
Manoel Bomfim, 1929

I.6.2 The Disconnection of America
Prudente de Moraes Neto, 1932

I.6.3 The Cordial Man, an American Product
Ribeiro Couto, 1932

I.6.4 The Roots of Brazil: Frontiers of Europe
Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, 1936

I.6.5 The Roots of Brazil: The Sower and the Bricklayer
Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, 1936

I.6.6 What Does Latin America Mean?
Afrânio Coutinho, 1969

I.6.7 Brazilians and Our America
Antonio Candido, 1993

CHAPTER II A NEW ART

INTRODUCTION BY MARI CARMEN RAMÉREZ

II.1. A New Art for a New Continent

II.1.1 A Visit to the Exhibition at [The School] of Fine Arts
José Martí, 1875

II.1.2 Three Appeals for the Current Guidance of the New Generation of American Painters and Sculptors
David Alfaro Siqueiros, 1921

II.1.3 Eurindia
Ricardo Rojas, 1924

II.1.4 Art Interpretations
Carlos Mérida, 1926

II.1.5 The New Art
Martí Casanovas, 1927

II.1.6 New World, New Races, New Art
José Clemente Orozco, 1926

II.1.7 Lesson 132: The American Man and the Art of the Americas
Joaquín Torres-García, 1941

II.2. Surveys Concerning a Continental Attitude

II.2.1 – II.2.7

A SURVEY: WHAT SHOULD AMERICAN ART BE? (1928–29)

II.2.1 Response to revista de avance Survey
Jaime Torres Bodet, 1928

II.2.2 Response to revista de avance Survey
Eduardo Abela, 1928

II.2.3 Response to revista de avance Survey
Carlos Enríquez, 1929

II.2.4 Response to revista de avance Survey
Eduardo Avilés Ramírez, 1929

II.2.5 Response to revista de avance Survey
José Antonio Ramos, 1929

II.2.6 Response to revista de avance Survey
Raúl Roa, 1929

II.2.7 State of an Investigation
Francisco Ichaso, 1929

II.2.8 Apex of the New Taste
Jorge Mañach, 1929

II.2.9 Our Surveys: Painting in Latin America, What Luis Felipe Noé has to Say
Luis Felipe Noé, 1961

II.3. Harbingers of the New Art

II.3.1 – II.3.2

XUL SOLAR ON PETTORUTI

II.3.1 Pettoruti and His Works
Xul Solar, 1923

II.3.2 Pettoruti
Xul Solar, c. 1923–24

II.3.3 – II.3.4

ON CARLOS MÉRIDA

II.3.3 Images of Guatemala
André Salmon, 1927

II.3.4 Carlos Mérida: Essay on the Art of the Tropics
Luis Cardoza y Aragón, 1928

II.3.5 Pablo Picasso: First Spiritual Unifier of Latin America
Germán Quiroga Galdo, 1935

II.3.6 Modern Mexican Painting
José Sabogal, 1937

II.3.7 Sabogal in Mexico
Mada Ontañón, 1942

CHAPTER III THE GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD AND BAD TIMES

INTRODUCTION BY TOMÁS YBARRA-FRAUSTO

III.1. The Monroe Doctrine: A Precursor to Pan Americanism

III.1.1 Annual Message: The Monroe Doctrine
James Monroe, 1823

III.1.2 The American Illusion
Eduardo Prado, 1894

III.1.3 The Ailing Continent
César Zumeta, 1899

III.1.4 Europe and Latin America: Current Opinion and Consequences of European Malevolence
Manoel Bomfim, 1905

III.1.5 Landings: Culture and Hispano-Americanism
Samuel Gili Gaya, 1930

III.1.6 Bolívar-ism and Monroe-ism: Hispanic-Americanism and Pan Americanism
José Vasconcelos, 1934

III.1.7 The Latin American Essays: Newton Freitas
Mário de Andrade, 1944

III.1.8 The Puerto Rican Personality in the Commonwealth
Luis Muñoz Marín, 1953

III.2. The Half-Worlds in Conflict

III.2.1 Ariel: The Idea of Nordomanía
José Enrique Rodó, 1900

III.2.2 The American Half-Worlds
Waldo Frank, 1931

III.2.3 Americanism and Hispanicism
Gilberto Freyre, 1942

III.2.4 Edward Weston and Tina Modotti
Diego Rivera, 1926

III.2.5 Art and Pan Americanism
Diego Rivera, 1943

III.2.6 Latin American Unity: A Battle Of Diplomacy in San Francisco
Octavio Paz, 1945

III.2.7 Caliban: A Question
Roberto Fernández Retamar, 1969

III.3. An Insight from Latin America on U.S. Art and Society

III.3.1 Art in the United States
José Martí, 1888

III.3.2 Comrades in Chicago
Carlos Mérida, 1938

III.3.3 My Opinion on the North American Artists’ Exhibition
Joaquín Torres-García, 1941

III.3.4 Impressions from My Visit to the United States of North America
José Sabogal, 1943

III.3.5 Letter from New York
Damián Carlos Bayón, 1955

III.4. The U.S. “Presents” and “Collects” Latin American Art

III.4.1 – III.4.2

CONFERENCE ON INTER-AMERICAN RELATIONS IN THE FIELD OF ART

III.4.1 Conference On Inter-American Relations in the Field Of Art, Department Of State, Washington, D.C., October 11–12, 1939

III.4.2 The Continuation Committee of the Conference on Inter-American Relations in the Field Of Art, February 15–16, 1940

III.4.3 – III.4.5

LATIN AMERICAN EXHIBITION OF FINE ARTS

III.4.3 Message to Latin American Exhibition of Fine Arts
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1940

III.4.4 Introduction to Latin American Exhibition of Fine Arts
Henry A. Wallace, 1940

III.4.5 Foreword to Latin American Exhibition of Fine Arts
Leo Stanton Rowe, 1940

III.4.6 The Latin American Collection of the Museum of Modern Art
Alfred H. Barr Jr., 1943

III.4.7 – III.4.8

PROCEEDINGS OF A CONFERENCE HELD AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, MAY 29–31, 1945

III.4.7 Problems of Research and Documentation in Contemporary Latin American Art
Alfred H. Barr. Jr., 1945

III.4.8 Contemporary Regional Schools in Latin America
Grace L. McCann Morley, 1945

III.4.9 Traveling Exhibitions of Latin American Art Available for Circulation in the United States
National Gallery of Art, 1946

III.4.10 The United States Collects Pan American Art
Joseph Randall Shapiro, 1959

CHAPTER IV LONGING AND BELONGING

INTRODUCTION BY MARI CARMEN RAMÍREZ

IV.1. Straddling a Cultural Doctrine

IV.1.1 Introduction: “La Plebe”
Luis Valdez, 1972

IV.1.2 The Cosmic Race: “Grounds for a New Civilization”
José Vasconcelos, 1925

IV.1.3 The Historical and Intellectual Presence of Mexican-Americans
Octavio Ignacio Romano, 1969

IV.1.4 Chicano Art
Shifra M. Goldman, 1974

IV.2. A Dose of Skepticism

IV.2.1 – IV.2.2

MARTA TRABA

IV.2.1 What Does “A Latin American Art” Mean?
Marta Traba, 1956

IV.2.2 Art’s Problems in Latin America
Marta Traba, 1956

IV.2.3 The Emergent Decade: Latin American Painters and Painting in the 1960s
Thomas M. Messer, 1966

IV.2.4 Art of Latin America Since Independence
Stanton L. Catlin and Terence Grieder, 1966

IV.2.5 – IV.2.6

“THE QUESTION” CONCERNING LATIN AMERICAN ART

IV.2.5 The Question of Latin American Art: Does It Exist?
Jacqueline Barnitz, 1966–67

IV.2.6 “The Question” 17 Years Later
Jacqueline Barnitz, 1984

IV.2.7 – IV.2.8

ARTES VISUALES ASKS: “WHEN WILL THE ART OF LATIN AMERICA BECOME LATIN AMERICAN ART?”

IV.2.7 In Reply to A Question: “When will the art of Latin America become Latin American art?”
Damián Carlos Bayón, 1976

IV.2.8 Comments on the Article by Damián Bayón
Jorge Romero-Brest, 1976

IV.2.9 Why a Latin American Art?
Rita Eder, 1979

IV.3. Our Janus-Faced Dilemma: Identity or Modernity?

IV.3.1 The Problem of the “Existence” of the Latin American Artist
Marta Traba, 1956

IV.3.2 Identity or Modernity?
Jorge Alberto Manrique, 1974

IV.3.3 The Invention of Latin American Art
Jorge Alberto Manrique, 1978

IV.3.4 The Visual Arts in a Consumer Society
Marta Traba, 1972

IV.3.5 Toward a New Artistic Problem in Latin America
Juan Acha, 1973

IV.3.6 The Specific Nature of Latin American Art
Saúl Yurkievich, 1974

IV.3.7 The Nostalgia for History in the Visual Imagination of Latin America
Luis Felipe Noé, 1982

IV.3.8 Modern Art in Latin America
Damián Bayón, 1984

IV.4. Debating Identity on a Continental Scale

IV.4.1 – IV.4.3

SPEAK OUT! CHARLA! BATE-PAPO!: CONTEMPORARY ART AND LITERATURE IN LATIN AMERICA, SYMPOSIUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, OCTOBER 1975

IV.4.1 Latin American Art Today Does and Does Not Exist as a Distinct Expression
Juan Acha, 1975

IV.4.2 Latin America: A Culturally Occupied Continent
Aracy A. Amaral, 1975

IV.4.3 We Are Latin Americans: The Way of Resistance
Marta Traba, 1975

IV.4.4 – IV.4.7

THE ETSEDRÓN DEBATE: THE 13TH SÃO PAULO BIENNIAL

IV.4.4 Etsedrón: A Form of Violence
Aracy A. Amaral, 1976

IV.4.5 Etsedrón: Comments on the Article by Aracy A. Amaral
Juan Acha, 1976

IV.4.6 Etsedrón, or the Lack of Libidinous Interest in Reality
María Luisa Torrens, 1976

IV.4.7 The Necessary Plurality of Latin American Art
Manuel Felguérez, 1976

IV.4.8 – IV.4.9

CONTROVERSIES AND PAPERS: SYMPOSIUM OF THE FIRST LATIN AMERICAN BIENNIAL OF SÃO PAULO

IV.4.8 First Latin American Biennial of São Paulo
Frederico de Morais, 1979

IV.4.9 Why Do We Fear Latin Americanism?
Aracy A. Amaral, 1978

IV.4.10–IV.4.11

A FIRST CRITICAL ENCOUNTER WITH ARTISTS AND THE VISUAL ARTS: AN INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM, MUSEO DE BELLAS ARTES DE CARACAS, JUNE 1978

IV.4.10 Alternatives for Current Latin American Painting
Carlos Rodríguez Saavedra, 1978

IV.4.11 Questions
Julio Le Parc, 1978

CHAPTER V DESTABILIZING CATEGORIZATIONS

INTRODUCTION BY TOMÁS YBARRA-FRAUSTO

V.1. Exhibiting Entrenched Representations

V.1.1 – V.1.2

HISPANIC AMERICAN ART IN CHICAGO, AN EXHIBITION AT THE CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY

V.1.1 Hispanic-American Art in Chicago
Robert L. Weitz, 1980

V.1.2 Some Thoughts Concerning the Exhibit of Hispanic American Art in Chicago
Victor A. Sorell, 1980

V.1.3 – V.1.7

HISPANIC ART IN THE UNITED STATES: THIRTY CONTEMPORARY PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS, MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON, MAY–SEPTEMBER 1987

V.1.3 Hispanic Art in the United States
John Beardsley and Jane Livingston, 1987

V.1.4 Art And Identity: Hispanics in the United States
Octavio Paz, 1987

V.1.5 Homogenizing Hispanic Art
Shifra M. Goldman, 1987

V.1.6 The Poetics and Politics of Hispanic Art: A New Perspective
Jane Livingston and John Beardsley, 1991

V.1.7 Minorities and Fine-Arts Museums in the United States
Peter C. Marzio, 1991

V.1.8 The Latin American Spirit
Luis R. Cancel, 1988

V.1.9 Art of the Fantastic
Holliday T. Day and Hollister Sturges, 1987

V.1.10 Latin American Artists of the Twentieth Century
Waldo Rasmussen, 1993

V.2. Questioning Stereotypes

V.2.1 Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano Art: Two Views
Jacinto Quirarte, 1973

V.2.2 Turning It Around: A Conversation
Rupert García and Guillermo Gomez-Peña, 1993–94

V.2.3 On Our Own Terms
Felipe Ehrenberg, 1988

V.2.4 Latin American Art’s U.S. Explosion: Looking A Gift Horse in the Mouth
Shifra M. Goldman, 1989

V.2.5 “Fantastic” are the Others
Aracy A. Amaral, 1987

V.2.6 Beyond “The Fantastic”: Framing Identity in U.S. Exhibitions of Latin American Art
Mari Carmen Ramírez, 1990

V.2.7 Latin American Cultures: Mimicry or Difference?
Nelly Richard, 1983

CHAPTER VI THE MULTICULTURAL SHIFT

INTRODUCTION BY MARI CARMEN RAMÍREZ

VI.1. Ideology Between Two Waters

VI.1.1 Border Culture: The Multicultural Paradigm
Guillermo Gómez-Peña, 1990

VI.1.2 Mixing
Lucy R. Lippard, 1990

VI.1.3 Living Borders/Buscando América: Languages of Latino Self-Formation
Juan Flores and George Yudice, 1990

VI.1.4 Between Two Waters: Image and Identity in Latino-American Art
Mari Carmen Ramírez, 1991

VI.1.5 Multi-Correct Politically Cultural
Patricio Chávez, 1993

VI.1.6 The Chicano Movement/The Movement Of Chicano Art
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, 1986-88

VI.1.7 Barricades of Ideas: Latino Culture, Site Specific Installation, and the U.S. Art Museum
Chon Noriega, 1999

VI.1.8 Aesthetic Moments of Latin Americanism
Néstor García Canclini, 2004

VI.2. The Transnational Mise-en-Scène

VI.2.1 Facing the Americas
Gerardo Mosquera, 1992

VI.2.2 – VI.2.3

CARTOGRAPHIES

VI.2.2 Latin America: Another Cartography
Ivo Mesquita, 1993

VI.2.3 Incomplete Glossary of Sources of Latin American Art
Paulo Herkenhoff, 1993

VI.2.4 Signs of a Transnational Fable
Charles Merewether, 1991

VI.2.5 Latin American Art’s International Mise-En-Scène: Installation and Representation
Nelly Richard, 1994

VI.2.6 Empowering the Local
Gustavo Buntinx, 2005

VI.2.7 From Latin American Art to Art from Latin America
Gerardo Mosquera, 2003

Editors’ Biographies

Researcher and Translator Credits

Index

Copyright Credits