Thread: Chicago Mexican museum glorifies illegals as superheroes

Chicago museum opens exhibit on immigration

The Associated Press

Tuesday, July 8th 2008, 4:00 AM
AP

"Suenos Humedos" ("Wet Dreams") by Juan Carlos Marcias, one of the works on display in "A Declaration of Immigration," a new exhibit at Chicago's National Museum of Mexican Art.

CHICAGO — A window washer dressed as Spiderman scales a building. A nanny clad as Cat Woman attends to children. A pizza delivery man wearing Superman garb rides a bike with pies in the basket.

The humorous photographs by Mexican artist Dulce Pinzon depict real immigrant workers in their everyday jobs.

But the images also proclaim them as super heroes who work grueling hours to make a better life for their families.

It's an idea linked to the immigrant experience in the United States and one that echoes throughout a new exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago.

The collection, called "A Declaration of Immigration," is designed to challenge U.S. immigration policies and call attention to unsuccessful attempts at reform, according to the museum's president Carlos Tortolero.

"Immigration affects the whole world," he said. "Immigrants are human beings who live in this country and contribute to this country. To be pro-America, you have to be pro-immigrant."

The approximately 100 paintings, photographs, sculptures, quilts and artifacts run the range of the immigrant experience.

Quilts tell the story of Hmong immigrants from Laos. Photographs show a Korean family's appreciation of Elvis Presley and soccer.

A retablo, or lamina, of carved figurines depicts the harrowing journeys some immigrants make to arrive in the United States.

Tortolero got the idea for the exhibit about two years ago when Congress approved a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico.

He said he was disturbed that both presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama voted for the fence.

So he sees the exhibit as a way to open a discussion about immigration reform, particularly in a presidential election year.

A large sign at the entrance of the exhibit mimics the U.S. Declaration of Independence, proclaiming that the country is "a nation of immigrants."

It also says that "the construction of the wall along the United States-Mexico border would stand as a symbol of persecution, much like the 20th century Berlin Wall."

Several pieces criticize the Department of Homeland Security, particularly immigration policies such as fingerprinting foreigners at airports.

Portraits by Danish artist Anni Holm feature the faces of three women from India, Colombia and Italy; their faces are comprised of fingerprints.

Other works are haunting.

In a series of oil paintings by Ana Fernandez, a woman completes menial tasks in outdoor landscapes. In one, she vacuums the border at San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.

Written on the border wall is, "No puedo pasar indiferente ante el dolor de tanta gente," which translates roughly as, "I cannot cross (the border) indifferently without acknowledging the pain of so many people."

Other paintings and drawings depict non-citizen immigrants who have fought in U.S. wars abroad.

A comic booklike drawing by Eric J. Garcia shows a "G.I. Jose" poised with a gun.

A line underneath him reads, "Always treated as foreigners except when needed to kill foreigners." Nearby, an Uncle Sam figure says "Se Habla Espanol."

The exhibit also reflects the lighter side of immigrant life.

One installation, called "Phone Home" by Mario Ybarra, is a glass case full of colorful international calling cards.

Another piece by Alejandro Diaz shows a series of facetious handwritten signs. One reads: "No Mexicans/No Tacos/You Better Think Twice America."

Also included in the exhibit is a photograph of a 2006 immigrant rights march in Chicago when more than 100,000 people took to the streets.

There's also a portrait of immigration activist Elvira Arellano, who defied a deportation order and lived in a Chicago church for a year with her U.S. citizen son. It's called "Sorrowful Mother."

The exhibit runs through Sept. 7 and will not travel.

I used to work in a jail and I never talked with a guilty inmate, they were all just "Doing what they had to do," to have what others had for themselves or their families, that makes breaking the law alright for illegals but NOT for Citizens! San Fransicko protects illegal alien drug dealers from prosecution and sends them home to other countries at taxpayer expense, there is no similar 'free escort home' offered for U.S. Citizen drug dealers so in San Fransicko aliens have more rights than Citizens! Where is the EQUAL PROTECTION that is supposed to exist for all people, including Citizens!

This is really not an illegal immigration question this is a LAW and ORDER question, either the law applies to everyone or no one, except in the U.S.A.!

Also included in the exhibit is a photograph of a 2006 immigrant rights march in Chicago when more than 100,000 people took to the streets.

I'm working on an exhibit to depict this happening. They are represented by "The Blob." /sarc