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March 2001 • April 2001 • May 2001 • June 2001 • July 2001 • August 2001 • September 2001 • October 2001 • November 2001 • December 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 |
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APRIL
2001 •I am sympathetic to what it means to be greatly offended. But the protesters in this case are taking offense where none is meant by the artist (feminists work from different paradigms when creating and viewing female bodies) and are using this occasion to privilege their own colonial brand of paternalistic religious discourse... --Kat Avila, (4/3) •There
is nothing wrong with a women's body and men -- even priests -- do not
have the right to say it is ugly or profane. Please don't let a fanatical
few ...bully you or any other arts organization into backstepping a
century or so.... --Nadia Reed, Arts Educator, California (4/9)
•I
went to see your show on Friday so I was not one of those people screaming
(to defend it, of course) without seeing the work. Breathtaking. I loved
every bit of it... --Gloria Nieto, Santa Fe, New Mexico (4/9
& 4/10) •Keep
up the struggle. Your work is wonderful... --Maria Herrera Sobek, Professor
of Chicana/o Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara (4/9)
•In
Ms. López’s Guadalupe I saw – for the first time –
a Holy Mother who makes eye contact, whose body posture says, 'I’m
here; I stand firmly on two feet; I speak with a strong voice.' I saw
her for the first time held aloft by an angel who expresses mature womanhood
and sexuality, not naive innocence. I left the exhibit smiling inside
and out.... --Claudette Sutton, Tumbleweeds Children's Magazine, Santa
Fe, New Mexico (4/9) •It
IS about sex, gender, and how a Catholic male hierarchy perceives women
and what they expect from them. Isn't it interesting how their complaints
labelled the piece as "perverted" and "pornographic"?
Right there, that shows you how they view women and women's bodies....
--Ev-Ra, "Princess o' Power," University of New Mexico (4/9)
•...
it distresses me to witness the trivialization of our cultural icons
in the common market...[yet t]hese images of the Virgen, showing legs
kicking their way out of oppression, choosing to wear heels like some
modern woman, or the tattooed Virgen on a naked woman's back, force
us, as a people to contemplate and confront our colonized institutionalized
beliefs. Our discomfort is good for us, it teaches us to examine our
conscience and consciousness... --Celia Herrera Rodriguez, Lecturer,
University of California at Berkeley (4/9)
•I
invite you to come to our community of Santa Fe, let us break taco,
and give and learn of each other's knowledge. Please know that there
are intellectuals, community activists, educators, artists, etc. not
just religious fanatics, not buying a museum's validation of propaganda
for consumer culture as "art"... --Pedro Romero Sedeno, Artist,
Santa Fe, New Mexico (4/9 & 4/14)
•Alma,
you figure the Inquistion was probably initiated by a few...zealots.
And as I said before those that cast stones need to look at their own
back yard first!... --Sergio Hernandez (4/9)
•The
call for censorship of her artwork is unfair as religious beliefs should
not motivate such intentions. The church is a separate institution apart
from the arts and sciences... --Leticia Lopez, Student, University of
California at Berkeley (4/9) •What
Alma Lopez has done is taken the same sort of risks which the Esperanza
[Peace & Justice] Center took in pushing the boundaries of the accepted,
dominant conventions, while remaining deeply rooted in a cultural and
(dare I say) Catholic context.... In the same vein of mutual support,
recognizing that the struggle is everywhere, I offer my support in the
defense of art that provokes, art that offends, art that challenges—and
art that celebrates and reaffirms... --Alejandro Perez, San Antonio,Texas
(4/9) •I
want to offer my moral support and remind you that i feel your work
is very important and must be seen... --Denise Solis, Guadalupe Cultural
Arts Center, San Antonio, Texas (4/9) •....a religious segment of society can not, legally dictate the contents of a government funded agency... --Consuelo Flores, Cultural Activist, Los Angeles, California (4/9)
•What
we have here is the trivialization and dismissal of a courageous Latina
artist's voice. Pedro does it very easily, defaulting to a cultural
nationalist's most handy tool - dismiss the in-house opposition as vendidas/os.
It doesn't work. Chicanas and Latinas have come far enough that a simple
"shut up" isn't all that effective... --Kat Avila (4/10)
•I
was fortunate enought to be visiting Santa Fe last week and took the
opportunity to see the exhibition which included the 'controversial'
Virgen de Guadelupe. The whole exhibition was excellent - vivid, stimulating
and thought provoking. --Nancy Falchikov, United Kingdom (4/10)
•I'll
be publishing an essay in defense of your work and the museum's right
to exhibit it in the next issue of our monthly arts & culture magazine
in Ruidoso (NM). People like Villegas are very frightening .... --Pamela
J. Cromwell (4/10) •Women
Hispanic artists represent... a younger generation who struggle to make
themselves heard politically and seen artistically... censorship, by
males who feel threatened in their authority, must [be] denied. Museums...are
not merely repositories of past works, but also forums for new ideas,
or new views of old ideas, and questions about the ideas by which we
live and try to make the world better than the one we inherited. --William
E. Houston, Santa Fe, New Mexico (4/10)
•...this
is art and a museum....la virgen is an expansive figure borrowed and
stolen from the indigenous people for some 500 years and it is particularly
Chicana's that have reclaimed her in their own image.... --Dorinda Moreno
(4/10) •Be
strong against this censorship. Your work is beautiful and deserves
to be praised not censored.... The "religious" men that seek
to ban your work do so because you have finally shown them that the
virgin is a women. They can never come to terms with the fact that the
creator of their savior is a women. - John J. Nauke (4/10)
•I
admire your work, both this Guadalupe and other images of yours that
I've seen. Your Guadalupe seems so much in the great Chicana tradition
of artists like Yolanda Lopez, Ester Hernandez.... --Dr. Robin Adele
Greeley, Assistant Professor of Art History, University of Connecticut
(4/10) •...if
the worst happens [and] the art must come down....we are going to the
museum and chaining ourselves to the door.... Then we will take our
shirts off and cover our chichis with flores. If you think those men
have a problem with women's bodies, wait til they get a load of their
sisters in chains and flores!!! --Gloria Nieto, Santa Fe, New Mexico
(4/10 & 4/9)
•I say "go ahead with you bad self!" I'm proud you're speaking out for us women and elevating us to our rightful place on this planet. I hope the day will come when men will learn to love us more and fear our strength less. I know the blessed mother is smiling, and blessing your artistic expression. --Jemela Mwelu, New York, New York (4/10)
•You
have won on the issue because the piece is still up and there is every
indication that it will remain up... --Helen Lopez, Santa Fe, New Mexico
(4/11) •Images
of dark Madonnas and Goddesses appear the world over, as part of the
legacy of the ancient Mother worship. The Roman Catholic hierarchy does
not own exclusive rights to the image of the feminine form as an expression
of the divine... --Nina Serrano, Oakland, California (4/11)
•...just wanted you to know you have my support and encouragement to continue your good work... Good luck! --Lorraine Schechter (4/11)
•I see Alma Lopez' art piece titled, Our Lady, as an interpretation of La Virgen de Guadalupe brought into modern times. It is not offensive nor degrading; it is uplifting and refreshing... --Amber Staggs, Irvine, California (4/12)
•Keep
on painting, Alma, and remember one thing, when people criticize it's
because they're seeing something that is hitting close to home. --Aida
Irizarry (4/13) •I
am horrified by the reaction of some of my fellow New Mexicans regarding
your art work at the museum. --Pat Fairchild, Santa Fe, New Mexico (4/13)
•Nationwide,
we have noticed a disturbing trend in which artwork is challenged because
individuals and groups deem it offensive.... We call on all those faced
with such situations to not sacrifice the right to free speech in an
attempt to placate critics. --Joan Bertin, Executive Director, National
Coalition Against Censorship (4/13) •Each
of us sees the image that is Our Lady in a different way. Those individuals
who take issue with Ms. Lopez' depiction have NO GROUNDS FOR COMPLAINT....
As a former museum curator, earlier in life, I strongly support you....
--Thomas G. Lennox Santa Fe, New Mexico (4/13)
•...
Archbishop Michael Sheehan called the director of the Museum of New
Mexico early in the week of April 9-13, trying to have your work removed....
His attempt at back-room dealings indicates that the overwhelming public
sentiment, as well as the stance of the Museum of NM & the Museum
of International Folk Art, is unequivocally supportive of you, your
work, and its continued exhibition. --Aaron Fry, New Mexico (4/13)
•As
one of the four artists, I am proud and honored to be a part of CyberArte:
where tradition meets Technology.... As an artist it is very hard to
figure out how people respond to the images that I create. Sometimes
people laugh, are moved or are bored. I truly do not know of an artist
who intentionally would set out to offend, and certainly that would
not be Alma Lopez. It [also] makes me proud to think that we have Dr.
Tey Marianna Nunn representing New Mexico, as a curator of one of our
state museums. Her decisions and choices need to be supported. --Elena
Baca, Proud, Museum Supportin, taxpayin CyberArtist (4/13)
•I am a former Santa Fe Public Schools Board member ...and I am well known in Santa Fe. I have been making it very clear at every opportunity that I do not support this inquisition.... --Carla Lopez, Santa Fe, New Mexico (4/13)
•I
am writing because I support an individual's right to free speech and
artistic freedom of expression... --Brenda Chavez, student, Columbia
Law School, New York, New York (4/14) •Her
secular work ...can be analyzed without questioning the artist's spiritual
connection to the work. Without the attendant Guadalupe Clip-Art, Alma's
...print ...reads more as a poster for women's liberation, propaganda
for her feminist politics.... Your work can be construed as ideological
date-rape. Choose again for other cliches and souvenirs in your cruise
as an intellectual tourist through the issues of our barrios (one map
of US-Mexico border: no blood, sweat or onions, please) to produce your
"new and improved" souvenirs. Your computer magic is but the
dream of your ego. --Pedro Romero Sedeno, Artist, Santa Fe, New Mexico
(4/14 & 4/10)
•When I look at this image, "Our Lady", I see the portrayal of a strong Chicana, something much different and much needed compared to the original bowed head, hands clasped Virgin de Guadalupe. Women need to be shown as strong and willing to fight for what they believe, not submissive and patient. What you are doing now is being that strong and willing woman in order to fight for your right to display your art... --Jasmine Butts, student, California State University at San Marcos (4/14) •Hopefully, the passions ignited by your work will generate discussions that help Chicanas/os maintain their identity and preserve their heritage, not by abandoning beliefs nor by enshrining traditions, untouchable, dead in a tomb, but by infusing those traditions with fresh insights... --Piper Nadelle, student, California State University at San Marcos (4/14)
•I want to thank you for having the courage to show an image of the virgin as a strong and powerful woman. I am not a Roman Catholic but when I had breast cancer and visited Chartres Cathedral in France, the stained glass image of the "Blue Virgin"gave me strength... --Marge McCarthy, Santa Fe, New Mexico (4/15)
•...growing
up in a devout Catholic family taught me to love and respect the Virgin
of Guadalupe in more ways than imaginable. Her image and what she represents
will forever be embedded in my heart. I do not, however, feel that anyone
has the right to tell me the ways in which it is appropriate to view
her... --Rachel L. Gonzalez, San Diego, California (4/16)
•I
can tell you that there are about 30 artists I'm working with that completely
support you and your point of view, and right to express it. However,
in the my attempts to merely discuss your story and it's implications
to the art community, I've created my own troubles at work...it turns
out I can't talk about religious art art work... --James Brynildsen,
computer artist, Jacksonville, Florida (4/16)
•Liturgical art in the Christian tradition, has always been used to inspire.... It's been used to inspire fear and awe, to gain or maintain political control over those who could not read, the masses. --Tracy Lawrence Bailey, Artist/Designer, Lawrence West Stained Glass, New Mexico (4/16)
•I
and my partner visited your museum during a trip to New Mexico from
Scotland in March.... I was also very impressed by the CyberArte exhibition,
particularly the artists' skills in using new media to express classic
artistic and ideological concerns... [I]n particular Alma Lopez's splendid
reflection on Our Lady of Guadaloupe, is an important contribution to
a controversy which is as old as religion itself. --Greg Michaelson,
Edinburgh, Scotland (4/17) •Art
should not be judged by its popularity or by whether it pleases or displeases
a particular group, no matter how vocal. The removal of the Lopez picture
would be an act of censorship and a capitulation to narrow religious
interests... --Lois & Marty Snyderman, Santa Fe, New Mexico (4/17)
•I
found this particular piece to be not only very creative, but that it
sent a powerful and important message regarding the strength of Chicano
women and the importance of religion in their lives... --Ted Taylor,
California State University at San Marcos (4/17)
•Please
accept my vote of support for your right to express yourself through
your art. --David Dough (4/17) •I
enjoyed seeing your Virgin Mary in the museum very much. I feel that
it might help if you issued a written statement explaining your point
of view. --Jack Frenkel , New Mexico (4/17)
•Your
image gives me strength. I feel that growing up with Mexican traditions,
I was taught to have smaller goals in life because I am a woman. I was
raised to view the world through my future husband's eyes. That all
the skills I acquired were to benefit my husband and not myself....
I view your image as a tool to enlighten our culture. --Diana Puentes-Rodriguez,
Student, California State University at San Marcos (4/17)
•It
is the symbolic meaning of her image that is sacred, not the image itself.
Icons, statues, and images have symbolic meaning. They are reminders
of a belief or ideal. They are not the belief itself. The belief is
within us--not outside of us in an object. Alma Lopez' piece entitled
"Our Lady," in my opinion does not undermine the symbolic
meaning of the image, it is a representation or interpretation of her
personal relationship to La Senora. --Anita Quintana, Graphic Designer
/ Artist, Northern New Mexico [Graphic Designer for Cyber Arte] (4/17)
•I
am e-mailing you and pleading with you to PLEASE take the 'digital photograph'
back to California! A true Catholic does not offend, you have injured
a whole community seriously.... YOUR SELFISHNESS IS NOT VIRTUOUS. --Julian
Olaf, New Mexico (4/17) •Ms. Lopez, I wanted to send you a copy of the letter I sent to Mr. Villegas. I met Mr. Villegas in Santa Fe while I was student at the College of Santa Fe. I want you to know that I support your work and believe that you have a right to show it. Please hang in there, we need women like you to be role models for our young people. --Juan Lopez (4/17)
•As
your sister in the Mystical Body of Christ, I extend a hand of sisterly
love and compassion to you... --Sister Conchita Carrillo, FMI, Santa
Fe, New Mexico (4/18) •Actually
most of the uproar seemed confined to a few easily offended (easily
confused??) individuals and the easily alarmed media. Good for you for
resisting all of the efforts to take the work down... --Barbara Jellow,
Assistant Art Director, University of California Press (4/18)
•You
have so missed the beauty and grace in Our Lady. Wearing a bikini does
not make a woman strong, it makes her an object of subjugation to the
lust of men... --Shelley Finkler (4/18)
•To
me one of the very saddest aspects of the entire episode is the using
of your art to drive yet another wedge in this community. As a scapegoat
for all the pent up resentment and ill will; you have manifestly been
very badly treated... --Nicky Watts, Santa Fe, New Mexico (4/18)
•You
are NOT showing respect for the Blessed Mother, what you ARE doing is
shaming her and giving Catholics a bad name. The Blessed Mother does
not need you to 'bring' her into the modern world, she's just fine where
she is... --Kathi Young (4/18) •I
was extremely upset when I viewed the painting of the Blessed Virgin
Mary dressed as a Victoria Secret model. It was distasteful, and inconsiderate
towards the beliefs of over 1 billion Catholics.... --June Love (4/18)
•Alma,
I don’t like your idea of saying that you did not do it to make
people upset. Come on, Alma. Be honest. Diego Rivera once said, “If
it is not propaganda, it is not art”... --Alejandro Solorio, Student,
California State University at San Marcos (4/18)
•All of those people who so strongly oppose you should do some research into who you really are and your stated intentions for creating the work. I have faith that the system will not let you down... --Miguel Salcido, California State University at San Marcos (4/18)
•Did
you [Pedro Romero] evaluate the male ethos you so eloquently represent
and how you demand the rest of us-- including these women who, to my
mind, have more authority to interpret this female icon that you or
I as men -- historically has maintained the infamous dichotomy of women
on pedestals? This denies a woman...her personhood. --Michael Sedano,
California State University, Los Angeles (4/21)
& (4/22) •Your
art is an image that expresses how we want to see ourselves, which makes
it the art of the people now... --Roberta Martinez & the Martinez
family (4/21) •...people
criticizing should consider the work of the cistine chapel and that
of the beautiful David and our lord on the cross wearing only a loin
cloth.... - Virginia Pinedo, lecturer, Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles, California
(4/21) •Keep
up the great work! --Mary Andrews (4/21)
•It
is critical in a free and democratic society that we maintain our right
to see, hear and read work that is controversial, even that which is
offensive to some... --David Thompson, New Mexico (4/21)
•Yes,
it is a beautiful image of Raquel, but the scandalo is that it's not
a beautiful image of Guadalupe-Tonantzin. Too bad you distorted the
idealistic beauty of our compassionate Mother to ingratiate your homage
to Raquel... --Pedro Romero Sedeno, Artist, New Mexico (4/21)
•It's
so sad and try as I may, I just can't erase from my memory the face
of the woman, at the first town meeting at MOIFA, who turned to me an
literally spat out the words, 'it's disgusting to show the Virgen that
way...' --Tracy Bailey, Artist/Designer, Lawrence West Stained Glass,
New Mexico (4/21) •It
seems to me that we all need to share her glory and history in the way
that it means something to each.... the way that the indigenous people
in Guatemala know her is different than the way we in the urban centers
view and revere her... she is us, how we are. We are diverse, we are
complex, we are astute and aware. She is ours to reinterpret; we don't
own her, the museums don't own her, the church doesn't own her... --Dorinda
Guadalupe Moreno (4/21) •Pedro
does not speak for all Santa Feos, Nuevo Mexicanos, Mexicanos, Católicos,
Chicanos or artists from the state of New Mexico.... --Rudy Fernandez,
Santa Fe, New Mexico (4/21 & 4/9)
•I think this piece is so powerful because she "La Virgen" reveals to us the relevance of spirituality in her own "naked Truth" ,,,in essence the possibility of faith existing in our own lives in a very personal and direct way... --Cynthia Wright (4/21)
•As
you may know, our award-winning book cover (Puro Teatro: A Latina Anthology)
carries a slightly altered version of the image. Before the book was
published, our editor asked a number of us--all Latina playwrights--how
we felt about the image. I, immediately, loved it.... Recently, while
I was reading from the book at a women authors' event, involving a number
of area high schools, I was informed that my book was not allowed in
the school. The school had pulled my book because of the image... --Elaine
Romero, playwright, Tucson, Arizona (4/23)
•The
bigger picture is that Xicanas/Chicanas have come a long way in this
society and in the Catholic society. Xicanas have always had conflicted
feelings about how to be a good mujer, especially when it comes to virginity
and sexuality... --Lydia Zendejas (4/23)
•The 'scandal' has made a lot of people listen to your statement.... Including myself: if it weren't for the controversy, I would have thought it was just a pretty picture. The real meaning, now that I know where it comes form, is actually very moving, and makes me think... --Daniel Butler, sculptor, Santa Fe, New Mexico (4/23) •Continue
to speak your mind, heart, and share your experiences... --Consuela
Zumwalt, University of Oregon (4/23) •I've
known you a long time and I know you are not purposely trying to yank
some chains - you are simply depicting your opinions and ideas... --Ana
Garza, Los Angeles, California (4/23) •Thank you for representing La Virgen in full Grace, Dignity, and Glory. Your image of Our Lady awakens in me strength, focus, and self-respect through her gaze and stance... --Raquel Gutierrez (4/23)
•…el
problema es que el Obispo o Cura del lugar donde se exhibe tu arte,
quiza no haya ido al Vaticano, el Vaticano esta lleno de mujeres y hombres
y angeles desnudos en la Capilla Sistina... --Yolanda Hendricks, Museo
Latino de Long Beach (4/24) •Of
course, the censors have a right to question your art work -- even to
call for its removal, but I hope the museum does not cave into their
reactionary demands... --Dennis Medina, San Antonio, Texas (4/24)
•I
love your image of "La Virgen" and I am disgusted with the
backlash you've received from Villegas and Sheehan who are probably
aroused by the image, which is a natural response from males and females
as well …perhaps this arousal is translated to them as offensive...
--Dianne Vega,Teatro Visión de San José (4/24) •Will
the Board allow Mr. Villegas, the archbishop, or anyone else for that
matter, to come to the museum and summarily order the removal of any
other works, because they are sacrilegious, offensive, in bad taste,
historically incorrect, badly composed, oddly dimensioned or too big
or too small? --Armando Durón (4/24)
•I always appreciate art that is well done and sparks interest/controversy/reflection on what art is. Thank you for getting New Mexico talking about art... - Angie Gerstein, Montessori Elementary School Teacher (4/24)
•She
as an artist is doing what artists are supposed to do: observe,think,
and interpret; and in doing so open the conversation about what we take
for granted in our everyday lives... --Celia HerreraRodriguez, Visual
Artist/Lecturer, Chicana/o Studies, UC-Berkeley, co-signed by Cherrie
Moraga, artist/author (4/25) •"The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" (published in its entirety on the Voz de Aztlan site) is a much-circulated anti-Jewish tracts used for years by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups. It is deeply disturbing to see it used by Chicanos who purport to be community minded and "progressive..."--Aida Mancillas (4/25)
•Actually the image of the virgin is that of a Chicana in a rose-covered "bikini" that is really a modest bathing suit. -- CHICLE (4/26) •I
see your depictions of her as embodiments of all Chicanas, she is us
and we are her... --Alyssa Gutierrez, Austin, Texas (4/26) •For
Chicanas and other women who have traditionally been taught through
religion to feel shame about their bodies, Ms. Lopez' work is instrumental
in healing very deep wounds and enabling women toembrace their bodies
and their sexuality as divine gifts... --Lara Medina, Assistant Professor
of Religious Studies, Cal State Northridge(4/26) •I'm
very proud of the work that you are producing for multiple reasons….[because
it] …[f]orces our multiple expressions of culture to socially evolve….
- Michael Samano, Ethnic Studies Coordinator, Lane CommunityCollege
(4/26) •So many times people want to attack the sensation or the idea of some sort of "evil" in art without thinking critically about the art itself. I want to apologize for certain Chicanos that have not been enlightened to accept a Chicana as a strong person with expression and needs of expression. --Oscar "the Oz" Madrigal (4/26)
•Perhaps we should not be so quick to accept the views of those who cannot accept change and applaud those who are able to see transformation and power in our creative images. --Dr. Tey Diana Rebolledo, Professor of Spanish/Chicano Literature, University of New Mexico (4/27) •My
83 year old mother read Roberto's piece and she said 'Now I understand.
The art work should stay in the museum.' She then proceeded to tell
me what
•Personally
I do not see any disrespect shown to Guadalupe in the imagery you have
used. But neither do I see what many others are seeing: the image of
a strong woman. Does the fact that Guadalupe looks at the viewer enough
to make her a strong woman? I do not think so. Ester Hernandez's karate-kicking
Guadalupe conveys a strong woman. I see your Guadalupe as simply an
updated version of a cultural icon... --Roberta Fernandez, Assistant
Professor of Romance Languages, University of Georgia (4/28)
•One lesson I have learned from this is that as an artist I may have had an intended meaning, but the viewer/audience interprets the image in their own way, which includes what is in their experience and heart. --Alma Lopez, artist (4/28)
•Thank
you for your tenacity at keeping vociferous against the continuing harrassment
of alma and all mujeres.... --Dorinda Moreno & Alyssa Gutierrez
(4/29) •Since
the advent of the Alma Lopez controversy, I have been concerned with
the viciousness exhibited by her defenders.... In fact, by her stone
silence, one can only infer that she is in complete agreement with the
attacks against individuals who express their freedom of expression.
--Octavio Romano, Ph.D., editor, Quinto Sol Publications (4/29)
•We
mujeres who walk the sacred red road of aztlan are poised to defend
our dignity in our lives and on the internet. it will take a lot of
dialogue and commitment to overcome the mental fray put forth by our
assailants.... --Dorinda Moreno (4/29) •...there
is this great discussion about your work by some self-proclaimed inteligencia
of the pochos.... it would be cool if you could say something briefly
about the posts.... http://www.pocho.com/chat/messages/42113.shtml --Zulma
Aguiar, filmmaker, UC San Diego (4/29) •I
am in prayer that this opportunity to heal and unite a community will
not be lost. I admire your art and your courage. --Elizabeth Gaylynn
Baker, Signature Films (4/29) •Wow.
That was my reaction to viewing your art.... I think when viewing art
and we learn about the history & perspective of the artist, what
we see becomes clearer and understandable. --Janét Hund (4/29)
•I was turned on to your work when the NY Times did a story on 3/31/01. --Mike (4/29)
•
[to Pedro Romero] In regard to your reference to my defense of Alma's
work from your destructive criticism as being a "pobre yo"
defense, I once defended your work in much the same manner when I served
on the Foundation Board at the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe. If that
is the way that you want to refer to it, so be it. --Rudy Fernandez
(4/30) •
By no stretch of the wildest imagination can the flower bedecked nude
religious virgin of Guadalupe be called folk art, no matter how presented....
It appears that the work by Alma Lopez is but an administrative wedge
to introduce California lesbian art into the context of Northern New
Mexico's folk culture. --Octavio Romano, Ph.D., editor, Quinto Sol Publications
(4/30) •
It seems to me that you have taken Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe as a
symbol of Chicana power, and completely debased her blessed, holy status
as mother of Jesus Christ and Patron Saint of los Mexicanos. I do not
intend to offend your artwork; I encourage you to continue your career
and wish you success.... --Maria Gonzalez-Escareno (4/30) •
We have two questions for those who feel that the picture of the Virgin
by Alma Lopez, hanging in a quiet gallery in the Museum of International
Folk Art is sacrilegious. Why is it not sacrilegious to use a picture
of Jesus to prop open the hood of a car.... --Kim Aeby and Frances Wilmeth
(4/30) • You have my support. I admire you and your wonderful work. --Harold Salas-Kennedy (4/30)
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