Dominican and Puerto Rican Artists in NYC - Essay Example

? Dominican and Puerto Rican Artists in NYC Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are the two most visible Hispanic immigrant groups in New York City today. A study undertaken by the City University of New York Dominican Studies Institute reveals that the Dominican population increased by 51 percent in the 1990s to 554, 638 while the previous most visible group, the Puerto Ricans, had decreased in number by 12.8 percent during the same time to reach 789,172 in 2000 (Berger). Demographically then, the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are a significant present in New York City. This has far-reach implications; for instance, the education system may grow to respond more effectively to Hispanic concerns as on campuses like the City University of New York, the Dominicans are already the largest nationality present. The communities have also produced political leaders like the Puerto Rican Herman Badillo or Fernando Ferrer, that has resulted in influencing the city’s artistic landscape, its educational institutes and so on. Although, for purposes of convenience, generalizations of various Hispanic groups are often made, it is important to remember the distinctness of each of these communities. ‘Latino’ and ‘Hispanic’ are very broad terms that encompass diverse cultures, histories and identities. Some individuals may identify strongly with a pan-Latino culture while others may not relate to the larger Latino or Hispanic context at all, preferring instead to identify themselves with their individual villages or nations of origin. For the purposes of this paper however, given its limited scope, the effort is to follow the more general approach to studying this culture, not with the intent of ignoring the diversity present within it but instead in seeking to find certain themes and experience common to these migrant groups, specifically to the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans in New York City today. This paper will seek to explore specifically the innovations in art that these two migrant groups have brought about in New York City. It will do this by first exploring a few representative individual artists and then by drawing larger, thematic conclusions from their work. It will also try to connect contemporary artists to their predecessors in terms of their common artistic concerns, techniques and so on. James de la Vega of Puerto Rican descent and Josefina Baez from the Dominican Republic will be the two artists whose work will be studied in detail. Passing references will also be made to other contemporary Hispanic artists like Victor Vazquez, Freddy Rodriguez and Rachel Rivera. Although these artists, specifically de la Vega and Baez, work with newer modes of art like performative texts, street art, mixed media art and so on, their work often reflects themes found in literature like that of Junot Diaz. Although the scope of this paper is not large enough to explore the similarities to and departures from this kind of literature in detail. James de la Vega is a street artist of Puerto Rican descent. His works are primarily in the form of murals or street graffiti. It is interesting that the mode of choice of this young artist should be something as new and contemporary as street art. Graffiti is fast emerging as a potent medium of expression. As Mary Schwartz puts it: Visual manifestations for public consumption, such as graffiti, banners in demonstrations, and murals, play an important role in cultures now recognized as hybrid because these materials coexist with neon signs and modern architecture, and intersect with transportation systems and urban planning projects. This is art exploding into public space that is spontaneous, sometimes risky, unlawful, and aggressive. Graffiti, a medium that inscribes the city itself […] is art that challenges the static confines of a museum collection or the presumed fixity of the printed word in literature. Not only is graffiti intrinsically linked to the present day and age, but it is also firmly placed in an urban setting. As Schwartz says, graffiti is also a medium increasinly representative of ‘hybrid’ cultures and as such, is an ideal choice for talking about issues related to immigration as these are often diverse, complex and dynamic concerns that need an expressive and ‘hybrid’ mode of art like graffiti to be represented fully. Other than the choice of medium reflecting his roots, James de la Vega is quite firmly entrenched in his identity as a Latino artist. In his interviews, de la Vega frequently uses the collective ‘we’ to speak about ‘Latin people’ and their common concerns. While criticizing rap and hip-hop music, for instance, de la Vega cites their negative influence on Black and Hispanic children as his primary reason for doing so:  He’s a sworn enemy of rap and hip-hop culture, ‘not the artists, but the message,’ he said. ‘I see the influences they have on the street, and it is really poisonous. They don’t help Hispanic and black kids live larger lives (Richardson).’ De la Vega then conflates the issues facing Black youth with those common to Hispanic youth as well. In styling himself a ‘social commentator’ as well, de la Vega very consciously assumes this mantle. He is a strong believer in the potency of art as a tool for creating positive social change. He is actively involved in raising funds for causes specific to Hispanic immigrants or ‘Latin people’ as he calls them. So much so that ‘brand de la Vega’ (Richardson) is something that has been actively constructed and protected from any negative connotations. De la Vega has even been tried and sentenced to jail for his art (Urbina). All of this figure strongly in making de la Vega’s image as an artist with a cause. Holder of a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Cornell University, de la Vega is also a teacher and motivational speaker who uses his art to forward his message. This message involves portrayal of ‘feelings of entrapment and unvanquished love’ (Urbina). De la Vega also actively protests against objectification of women in popular media and also has an anti-capitalist stance, as his active involvement in ‘Occupy Wall Street’ reveals. Josefina Baez, on the other hand, charts a much more personal history in her work. Her idea of ‘performance autology’ is a method of acting or creating art by drawing from personal experience. It emphasizes a Zen-like approach based on stillness, discipline and technical mastery. Her works, like Dominicanish for instance, which had its 10th anniversary show on the Harlem Stage, New York in 2009, are deeply rooted in the immigrant narrative. While her other book Comrade, Bliss Ain’t Playing is a personal journey of a woman in search of love. It has been described as ‘an intimate journey dressed up with a beautiful vulnerability’. As Hillary Faleoner writes in her review of Dominicanish: it is ‘not so much the ‘story’ of what it means to be a Dominican living and working in New York, but what it is to be Josefina Baez.’ Baez, then, emphasizes her personal history in her stories. As is evidenced in the mix of influences on her work – her dance is reminiscene of the Indian Kuchipudi style, for instance – it is clear that it is her personal history that Baez seeks to retell most emphatically. This reflects both in her form as well as content of her art. Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz has said of this contemporary artist: Josefina Baez has been breaking open hearts and re-ordering minds for more years than I care to count. She is one of North America's finest artists and she is, without question, one of my favorite writers. She is a sword bathed in flame, she's a marvel. Levente no.Yolayorkdominicanyork is her finest work yet (‘Levente No’). While critic Miguel D. Mena calls Levento No as having reached the highest state of ‘hybridity’ in art. The operative words in describing Baez’s work all lie on an extremely personal plane. Her work and the effect her work generate are more metaphorical and poetic rather than political and immediate. Even her style of work, which combines literature, dance and music, is hard to categorize as anything more specific than ‘performance.’ However, in her use of language – a highly stylized and original style, combining Spanish and English – Baez directly addresses one of the issues facing migrants: language. In Dominicanish, for instance, the protagonist reveals to the audience her experiences with learning English, how the sounds change the shape of her mouth, how she feels anxious about uttering the ‘u’ sound that is contained in ‘you’ or ‘tu’ as it is an intimate sound. Although Baez does not emphasize only her immigrant status in her work – which is instead informed by her gender, age, and other diverse socio-cultural affiliations – she does indirectly touch upon much of the same issues that other Hispanic artists do. For instance, Rachael Rivera, in her mixed media work, also hardly touches upon specifically immigrant issues. Her paintings often feature morphed creatures with bodies like women and heads of ducks. These bird-like figures with prominent breasts and awkward stances, can be taken to be symbolically representative of a hybridized ‘womanhood’ and at the same time, also be seen as indicative of the immigrant’s status as a combination of various, often conflicting, cultures. Freddy Rodriguez, in his paintings, often recalls the rich energy of Caribbean music and culture. But his choice of style to do so: Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism and Pop Art, are an exclusively individual choice (Ramos). Another artist, Victor Vazquez, who is from Puerto Rico, also works in a variety of media. Vazquez works with photography, sculpture, installation art, videos and so on. His work also features the human body frequently as he makes his commentary on identities, rituals and politics. Certain common features appear in many of these artists who frequently work with newer and more innovative modes of art and who variously try to invoke their native cultures or sometimes move on from their pre-migration identities and instead create a new, more personal one. This is not unlike what is noticeable in more tradition Caribbean art. For example, Junot Diaz’s novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao also performs a similar balancing act. On the one hand, the story revolves around the very personal problems of the protagonish, problems which however, are relatable to many people of his age. On the other, the store evokes many native traditions and practices – for instance, the idea of the Fuku and Zafa or ‘curse and counterspell’ – in talking about these personal issues. We see therefore, that in creating their art, Puerto Rican and Dominican artists have maintained their cultural ties with their nations of origin but have also established new relationships and identities in their current places of residence. While creating new spaces in art, spaces that are exclusively theirs, they have retained their connections to their predecessors. The contemporary artists may be experimenting with mixed media, performance art, street art and so on but their ties with traditional forms of art like literature are also relevant and strong. Most of these new Hispanic or Latino artists identify strongly both with their pre-immigration status and issues concerned therein as well as their new socio-political and cultural identities that are generated post-immigration in their new countries of residence. The ‘journey’ separating the two states is alsot an important idea and often finds expression in their art. While political claims are often part of the message of the artists, these are more broad-based than ordinary campaigning. Political claims are steeped in social issues that these artists identify as affecting their communities and their own personal identities. It is only in these cases that their art becomes a political weapon in their hands. Otherwise, largely, art remains a personal process embracing the uncertainty of an immigrant identity rather than striving for a watertight, aggressively nationalistic identity. Works Cited: ‘A Guide to Documenting Latino/Hispanic History and Culture in New York State.’ New York State Archives. Jan. 2002. PDF File. ‘Baez, Josefina.’ Wikipedia. 19 May 2012. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. Berger, Joseph. ‘Dominicans Gaining on Puerto Ricans in City.’ The New York Times. 9 Oct. 2003. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. Faleoner, Hilary. ‘Reviews for Josefina Baez.’ Womenarts.org. 22 May 2001. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. ‘Levente no.Yolayorkdominicanyork – A Reading With Josefina Baez This Friday.’ UptownCollective.org. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. Ramos, E. Carmen. ‘Preparing for Our America: Music and Abstraction, Works by Freddy Rodriguez.’ Eye Level. 3 Jul. 2012. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. Richardson, Clem. ‘James de la Vega: From Street Artist to Social Commentator.’ NYDailyNews.com. 15 Mar. 2012. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. Schwartz, Marcy. ‘The Writing on the Wall: Urban Cultural Studies and the Power of Aesthetics.’ City/Art: The Urban Scene in Latin America. Ed. Rebecca E. Biron. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2009. 127-144. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 156. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resource Center. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. Urbina, Ian. ‘Street Muralist May Soon Be Looking at Jailhouse Walls.’ NYTimes.com. 12 Jun. 2004. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. Read More