THE CHICANO ART OF A RED-BLOODED AMERICAN

Sangre Colorado, an exhibition by Carlos Frésquez, reminds viewers that “American” is an abstract and malleable concept.

Kealey Boyd

Carlos Frésquez, “Salon de los Illegales” (2005-present), made from altered thrift store landscapes (photo courtesy Curtis Tucker and Center for Visual Art)

To make art about the Chicano experience, Carlos Frésquez borrows from a dizzying range of influences, including pop, cubism, expressionism, and abstraction. His exhibition Sangre Colorado, on view at the Center for Visual Art at Metropolitan State University of Denver, questions what defines a “red-blooded American” — sangre is Spanish for blood and colorado translates to red-colored. Frésquez can trace his family roots to the 1600s in what is now New Mexico, and he says in the exhibition catalogue that his family never crossed a border: “the border crossed us.” Frésquez’s ancestors lived at the foot of the Rocky Mountains long before the Spanish conquistadors arrived, before they were transitioned to Mexican rule, and before their land rights were questioned within a new American territory. Therefore his work critically frames American as an abstract and malleable concept. For his knowledge of diverse Latino experiences, Frésquez has also become a contributor to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.

Frésquez grew up in Denver’s North Lincoln housing projects. Eventually his family moved, but he continued to stay there with his grandparents during summers. In an interview in the catalogue, Frésquez recalls walking to St. Cajetan’s church with his grandmother, who would call out “Hola, Vecina!” — hello, neighbor! Because of her beckoning, his family would often arrive at the church steps with a group of 20 people. Today, the Lincoln projects are gone, and in its place stands the Auraria Campus, home to three institutions of higher education. Frésquez is a faculty member on that campus, teaching in the art department of Metropolitan State University of Denver for the last 28 years. St. Cajetan remains a student event space, just outside Frésquez’s office windows.

Carlos Frésquez, “Missing You” (1990), acrylic on canvas (photo courtesy Wes Magyar)

Frésquez’s roots extend well beyond the borders of Denver. As a teenager researching a school project, Frésquez found a retablo, or devotional painting, attributed to artist Pedro Antonia Fresquís. The similarity of the surname to his own led to what he calls a “culture quest,” and Frésquez’s research extended his family tree beyond Fresquís to two brothers that arrived in Santa Fe from the Spanish Netherlands in the early 1600s. Retablos originally referred to paintings placed behind church altars, but by the 12th century, the term referred to any painted work associated with a sacred image. Santos, created by santeros, typically include a holy figure framed by curtains — a design, Frésquez told Hyperallergic, that seems theatrical.

The diptych painting “Missing You” (1990) vibrates with color and energy in a neo-expressionist style. The solid structure of the San Francisco en Ranchos church occupies the central position among foothills, admired by a couple that stands in the foreground, nearly merging into one figural silhouette. Near the couple, a strange figure is roughly delineated with fine lines of bright color, next to a rooster. It is possibly a curandero: a healer responsible for blessing dry land and ailing bodies………………

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