One of the important concepts that is introduced in Chapter 2 is syncretism. Read the chapter and discuss ONE example of syncretic art mentioned in the reading. Describe your example and explain what syncretism is and how it is demonstrated in your example. Please use only ONE example of art so that other students may participate. Do NOT repeat what other students write. If after several posts, you cannot find a new example to discuss, try coming up with another possible example of syncretism in American art, music or popular culture – be creative! (Please do NOT use the colonial chest from last week’s discussion as your example)
***If you use addition sources, please remember to list them in your post.
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Read the section in Chapter 2: Indigenous Heritage from Mexico and the Arrival of the Spanish.
Many Mexican-American artists (and other Latinx artists) use either Pre-Columbian (Mesoamerican) or Spanish Colonial subjects (such as art, architecture, gods and goddesses, even famous people, such as the conquistador, Hernán Cortés) in contemporary artworks, like a kind of “cultural vocabulary.”
Find an example of iconography – symbolism or subject matter – from either pre-contact or Spanish Colonial Mexico. What is the history behind this subject? Where does it come from and what might its meaning be?
Can you post contemporary or recent examples of art using your symbol or subject?
For example, this is a sculpture by Robert Graham of Quetzalcoatl, Cesar Chavez Plaza, in downtown San Jose. It was made in 1994. At the time, it caused a controversy due to its subject. Who is Quetzalcoatl? And why would the subject matter be controversial?
Feel free to post and discuss any topic introduced in the reading as iconography. Some ideas:
Aztlán, Hernán Cortés, Coatlicue, Pre-Columbian pyramids, art of the Olmec, Maya, Aztec. OR feel free to add another related subject not mentioned in the reading. ***Please: Remember to list the sources you use.
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password for chapter 2: syncretism
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