Cheech Marin, actor, writer, voice artist and television personality, smiles broadly in the soft Malibu sun – his paintings are finally coming home. Or maybe not – Cheech’s Chicano art collection, which has been on the road for five years, winds up its tour in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida later this spring. The exhibition, entitled Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge, has gained such popularity both here and abroad that Cheech cheerfully states, “I might keep traveling with my collection for the rest of my life. Governments all over the world want to show these wonderful paintings, and I’m happy to accommodate them.” Chicano Visions is the culmination of twenty years of passionate collecting by a man once famous for his Cheech and Chong schtick, now better known for his intelligent and eloquent advocacy of the Chicano School of Art. In addition to gaining legitimacy for Mexican-American artists, Chicano Visions has smashed attendance records in every museum it visited, from the upscale de Young Museum in San Francisco to the venerable Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The reason: the singularly American appeal of Chicano Visions artwork. “If I’ve helped make Mexican-Americans proud of their heritage, of where they came from and who they are, then I’ve accomplished my goal.”

Cheech’s foray into the world of art began many years ago with his involvement in the Self-Help Graphics Atelier in central Los Angeles. A haven for counter-culture types, the Atelier artists impressed Cheech with their dedication and talent. He quickly formed deep friendships with many of the artists and began to collect their work. As his collection and artistic knowledge grew, Cheech became so convinced of the distinctive qualities of Mexican-American painters that about fifteen years ago he had a radical idea: that these artists deserved their own “school of art” designation and real legitimacy in the art world. He conceived of a national exhibition of his collection, but not in small, backwater venues – nothing but the most prestigious museums would be included in the tour, with major sponsors. Remarkably, years of hard work and a persuasive personality resulted in seventeen prominent venues across the country, with corporate sponsorships by Bank of America, Farmer’s Insurance and Target stores. Cheech smilingly describes the emotion he experienced when the exhibition traveled to a new city, “One of the biggest joys of my life has been visiting my paintings in each museum, of sitting all by myself in the gallery and having lunch with the art. There’s no feeling quite like it.”

So how to describe contemporary Chicano art’s universal appeal? Primary colors, bold designs and passionate subject matter draw in the viewer to scenes of human drama, whether they be interracial gang violence, domestic bliss, ethnic persecution or small scenes of childhood happiness. The unifying theme – an aesthetic sense that is uniquely Chicano while being universally American. Irvin Littman, the Executive Director of the Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, describes the history behind Chicano painting, “Mexican-American or Chicano artists’ creativity comes from Mexican and American traditions that go back even farther than familiar painters such as Rivera, Kahlo and Orozco. It’s a rich artistic heritage that draws on many times and many cultures. That may be why most of the people who came to the show were not necessarily Hispanic.” The experience of the Chicanos, which means “small or satellite Mexicans” is increasingly ordinary, middle class, the status quo. And it is this reality that has changed the word “Chicano” from a dirty word to a proud word. Cheech explains, “I had to persuade the San Antonio museum crowd that “Chicano” was not a bad word in California, that it was really a source of cultural identification and pride. They had a hard time understanding at first, but then embraced the concept.” Cheech’s own pride in his ethnic background shines through in everything he does, from writing, to music to children’s projects. “There is an enormous world of riches in being Latino – there is so much culture to draw on!” explains Cheech.

Lest anyone think that the acceptance of the Chicano label and Chicano presence in American culture has come easily, Cheech tells the story of a controversial painting “Kill the Pachuco Bastards” by Vincent Valdez. In an allusion to the turbulent social history of the Mexican-Americans in this country, the painting depicts an infamous instance of racial profiling and brutality that occurred in California during the Depression. With the encouragement of local government officials, Mexican-American “zoot suiters” were stripped, shaved and beaten by Anglo sailors on shore leave. Alone among all the paintings on the tour, an East Coast museum almost declined to display the picture, citing its graphic subject matter and the schoolchildren that were certain to see it during their tour of the museum. When Cheech reminded the museum’s curator about the equally offensive, but never edited Roman- era statue, “The Rape of the Sabine Women” the curator withdrew his protest and hung the picture.

Cheech also faced an uphill battle in convincing curators of the legitimacy of Chicano art as a separate discipline with its own rules and conventions. For many years he battled apathy and disinterest, but he persisted in his belief that Chicano art was both unique and legitimate. As Cheech tells it, half way through the tour the questions became how each of the artists drew upon the different characteristics of the Chicano School of Art, rather than whether or not it really existed. It was a sweet affirmation of his dream, one he still enjoys savoring. Also satisfying was the eventual support of academics within the Mexican-American community; their reluctance about the exhibition had centered on the sacredness of ancient Azteca imagery and its appropriation by Chicano artists, but the show’s celebration of indigenous Mexican culture proved to be so popular that they eventually championed it and the companion exhibition, Chicano Now.

Cheech’s nod to the difficult social and political history of Mexican-Americans in this country has never been confrontational – he would rather persuade people of the beauty of Chicano artwork and its universal attractiveness than present overtly political statements about the Mexican-American experience. Yet he is fully aware of the struggles of his people and of the political nature of much of the art he collects – he just prefers to approach the subject positively. “When I was a kid, the other kids in the neighborhood would call me ‘Mexican’ and I didn’t know what they were talking about – I wasn’t Mexican – I’d never even been to Mexico. So I grew up with this idea that other people had about me, but I never felt limited by it.” His own history of growing up in a mostly African-American neighborhood in Los Angeles meant he had more people to imitate. “Early in my career I played everyone, blacks, Jews, Arabs, Germans, Irish. I had the freedom to choose, unlike other actors of my generation, maybe because I drew on so many ethnicities.”
He explains how Chicano artists use this same skill: “I used to ask my mom why she said sentences half in English, half in Spanish, and she didn’t know why. Then I learned about ‘code-switching’, which is a way people have of letting other people know how much knowledge they have of another language. I realized that this is exactly what Mexican-American artists are doing – they are drawing on different artistic traditions, whether Impressionist, Cubist, Post-Modern or whatever, to express their art. It’s like having a reversible coat – it’s the same coat, just two different colors. Now the debate is, are they Chicanos creating art, or artists creating Chicano art? This tour gave them the ability to choose.”

When asked about particularly meaningful moments on the tour, Cheech and John Valadez, one of the painters in his collection, both mentioned the outpouring of support and affection shown at the San Antonio Museum of Art. Valadez describes the scene, “We were amazed at the response of the people, and felt really blessed to be able to show our work there.” Cheech chokes up when he describes the San Antonio Museum opening, which was the first stop on the tour, “I felt like shouting, ‘We’re here! We made it!’ After so many years of hard work – to see all those pictures in the museum, was just fantastic! And to see the faces of all the people as they came in was indescribable!”

So what’s up next for our artistic crusader? This man certainly likes to stay busy; in the works is another television series, more children’s books based on his My Name is Cheech the School Bus Driver albums, voiceover work and, of course, traveling with his exhibition around the world. A trip to Madrid, Spain in Spring, 2007 showcased a select group of works from his collection – Cheech hopes for more such experiences. So it looks like the remaining Chicano art pieces at Cheech’s Malibu home might just have to be content with each other’s company while their owner travels around the world with the rest of the collection. But don’t worry, my pinturas, the rest of the collection es seguro y contento. And Cheech is very happy, too!

Written by: Rebecca Robinson
ARTWORKS Magazine – Summer 2007