Mexican American Liberation Art Front

Chapter four introduces the importance of art collectives in the Chicano art movement and Mexican American culture. Instead of competing with one another, Chicano artists worked together to promote the goals of the Chicano movement. Between 1968 and 1980, many important art collectives emerged in major cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Sacramento,

and many more.

The first topic that Jackson presents in this chapter is the Mexican American Liberation Art Front (MALAF) The MALAF organization was established in 1968 by Manuel Hernandez-Trujillo,Esteban Villa, Rene Yanez, and Malaquias Montoya. This organization would last two years, where artists and members would join to discuss current issues like the Vietnam

War, the UFW, and educational inequity. During these meetings, artist would discuss their views on using art as a tool for social change and create a unified art movement. In its process to creating a new visual culture, MALAF was able organize exhibitions that enabled artists to promote their art and culture in their own way, yet making it accesible to the Mexican American community. Although MALAF only lasted two years, its impact on the Chicano art movement was significant. Even though MALAF wasn't a really big organization, it definetly played a key role in uniting artists to reach the movements goals and developing the Chicano art movement. Along with MALAF, other organizations were also established. Asco, meaning nausea in Spanish, was a collective formed by Chicano artists in East Los Angeles that represented street youth and consisted of conceptual performances and public artworks. During its sixteen years of collective activity, Asco was able to create exhibitions among Chicano communities and institutions such as the L.A County Museum of Art. Like the MALAF, Asco was another successful organization that helped Chicano communities come together through the work of art.

Mujeres Muralistas was another collective that consisted of mural-paintings composed of Chicana and Latina artists. The group's first murals began at Balm Alley in 1973 where the mural was broken into sections in order to give each artist a chance to represent their own experience and perspective. Although women were fighting for inequality among their own communities, I think this collective was a crucial step for the fight for equality. Similar to Asco, Los Four was a

collective that represented a "cool, intellectual approach" to Chicano art. It's goal was to exhibit artworks individually and collectively in a large art institution. Los Four was able to open new doors for Chicano artists and allow them to gain recognition. Last but not least, the Co-Madres Artistas was distinct collective established in 1992. The artists in this collective were usually in their forties and sixties. Due to their jobs and family responsibilities, many of the members weren't able