In the Curator’s Words: Chicano artist Ramsés Noriega, witness to the rise of political resistance, chronicles a pivotal moment in U.S. history

In the Curator’s Words is an occasional series that takes a critical look at current exhibitions through the eyes of curators.

When Rafael Barrientos Martinez first discovered Ramsés Noriega’s art, he knew he stumbled upon a monumental body of work that provides deep insights into the Chicano community — where it was, where it is, and where it’s going.

Martinez “immediately recognized its importance as it related to the beginning of Chicano art history,” he says.

Five years later, Martinez has curated a landmark exhibit, titled “Fragmentos Del Barrio,” in Barrio Logan, where the 81-year-old Noriega, who lives in Los Angeles, is in the spotlight at the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center. Telling Noriega’s story fits nicely with the center’s mission: “By preserving a history of struggle, we will educate and empower individuals to become agents of change in their own communities.”

The exhibition, on display through Feb. 28, celebrates the life and work of Noriega and “traces the artistic journey and political legacy of one of the early pioneers of the Chicano Movement (El Movimiento).”

The exhibit, as described by the museum, “explores the deeply rooted duality at the heart of Noriéga’s practice, uniting his Mexican and American identities, personal reflection and political resistance.”

“Fragmentos Del Barrio” opened to the public on Aug. 29, the 55th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium — “a pivotal protest in 1970 that called for collective action against the Vietnam War, addressed the high number of Mexican American deployments and casualties, and highlighted issues of police brutality, educational inequities and economic disparities faced by the Chicano community,” according to the museum.

Indeed, at the Chicano Museum, Noriega’s journey as an artist, political organizer and cultural commentator is chronicled in a major retrospective that’s a snapshot of 30 years of his artistic life, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s. His work is at once an artistic expression and political commentary, an exercise in exploring identity and ideology at a politically charged time in American history.

The importance of this tribute is not lost on Noriega, who through images and the written word, has and continues to be a cultural observer and, perhaps more importantly, a conduit for societal change.

“The exhibition proposes a new vision for La Raza — with new challenges and discoveries,” says Noriega, an alumnus of the University of California Los Angeles. “It represents a clear image of the history of colonization in America, and we are still learning today about this history.”

Martinez, a guest curator for the Chicano Museum, talks about Noriega, his life’s trajectory, his body of work and its place “within the context of the Mexican and American political and art history.”

Q: Tell us a little bit about Ramsés Noriega and his place in the history of the Chicano community. 

A: What I’d like to say is that Ramsés embodies the hyphen in Mexican-American. As a community organizer, he was among the visionary few that conceived the framework that brought the Chicano community, from throughout California and beyond, together to protest against the Vietnam War in Los Angeles in the late 1960s. Many would agree it was this series of protests and events that marked the beginning of El Movimiento.

As an artist, his artworks and political graphics of the 1960s and ‘70s stand as manifestations of the struggle and resistance that became El Movimiento, bringing together both Mexican and American artistic sensibilities to create a style distinct within the Chicana/o art movement.

Biographically, Ramsés moved to the United States in his teens in the 1950s to be met by all of the traumas and barriers that Chicanas/os faced at that time. From being a young farm worker, to becoming a community organizer, to becoming one of the most important artistic voices of his generation of Chicanos, I would say he is a very important member of the Chicano community but, more importantly, of our history.

Q: The exhibit “Fragmentos Del Barrio,” currently on display at the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, is an important collection of artworks because it looks back at his work over a long period. Whose idea was it to mount this monumental exhibition, and how did it land in San Diego?

A: The exhibition examines three decades of work, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, roughly the first half of Ramsés’ career. The planning of an exhibition like this for Ramsés has been in the works for almost five years. As a young art historian and curator, I selfishly wanted to see for myself an exhibition like this that examined this crucial part of our history.

While he has created much more recent work, it is important to document this particular period because it is truly revelatory about the history of Chicanos/as in the United States.

How it landed at the Chicano Park Museum? The incredible staff at the museum wanted to honor Ramsés with an exhibition and their vision for a show happened to align with what we have been working on!

Q: This exhibition opened on the 55th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium. Tell us about that pivotal moment in history, and its significance with regard to Noriega’s work. 

A: By 1967, over 10,000 American GIs had lost their lives in the Vietnam War, not to mention Vietnamese losses and those of other nationalities. Of those deployed, a disproportionate number of Brown and Black individuals were drafted for various racialized reasons.

Angered by the targeting of individuals from their community by the government as well as by the arguably needless war itself, marches were organized across the United States to protest this reality, calling for an end to the violence.

Ramsés Noriega and Rosalio Muñoz organized the series of protests that occurred in Los Angeles, culminating in the Chicano Moratorium march on Aug. 29, 1970, the largest of such events in the United States with between 20,000 to 30,000 individuals of all nationalities in attendance. At this peaceful family event, officers began to clash with attendees, ending in the injury and arrest of many, and the death of three: Lyn Ward and Angel Gilberto Díaz, both Brown Beret members, and Rubén F. Salazar, the award-winning Chicano Los Angeles Times journalist.

In the 1960s and ‘70s, Noriega approached art making with the life experiences he had collected since his childhood. From walking the streets of Mexicali, crossing the Mexico-United States border with his sister, to an American class system so obvious and distinguishable to even a young child, all of these traumas fed his frustrations and anxieties and would be channeled into his art practice addressing the preposterousness of life. Also at this time it was Ramsés who created many of the graphics that advertised the moratorium marches and accompanying community organizing events.

Q: When were you first exposed to Noriega and his work, and as curator, how difficult — or easy — was it to assemble his body of work for this exhibition? 

A: I was first exposed to Ramsés’ work about five years ago and immediately recognized its importance as it related to the beginning of Chicano art history. What made this exhibition easier to assemble than others I have worked on is the fact that so much of the work has been retained within Noriega’s archive of works and related ephemera. What has been hard has been thinking through how to frame his work within the context of the Mexican and American political and art history.

Q: Were there any surprises when you were working on this show? If so, what were they? 

A: What was a big surprise for me was to find a quite extensive archive of the artist’s book collection, all annotated by the young organizer, shedding light on what and how he was thinking during this era. We have examples from this collection in display cabinets throughout the exhibition.

Q: For you, what was the most exciting part of curating this exhibition?

A: To be honest, it’s been exciting learning about this history. It is really revelatory about this key piece to our history. How can we go forward in this day and age without knowing from where we have come?

Q: Given the current cultural and political climate, did you reframe your curating approach while working on this exhibition? Or did you pretty much stay the course? 

A: I stayed the course. If anything, this political climate made me and the museum believe that this exhibition is what our community most needs.

Q: What do you hope visitors will take away from this exhibition? 

A: Well, I hope they leave with Ramsés’ name on their mind. And I hope they begin to understand his important role in our history. But also I hope that our visitors are left with the understanding that there is no one way of making Chicana/o art. Ramsés’ work very much breaks the mold.

Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center presents “Fragmentos Del Barrio”

When: Through Feb. 28

Where: Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, 1960 National Ave., San Diego

Admission: $8 for general admission, $4 for students, teachers, veterans, active duty military and seniors, $3 for Barrio Logan residents, free for those 18 and younger

Phone: 619-501-4242

Online: chicanoparkmuseum.org