On Sept. 26, renowned Chilean artist and muralist Alejandro ‘Mono’ Gonzalez visited West Chester University’s campus where he explained his works as an artist and presented his artwork at the John H. Baker Gallery. “Mono: Images and Activism of Alejandro Gonzales” is a collaborative exhibit sponsored by the Annual Latinx Communities Conference, the Department of Art and Design and the Baker Gallery.
The John H. Baker Gallery was packed with students and staff ecstatic to see and learn about Gonzalez’ artwork.
Gonzalez had a discussion led by Dr. Daniela Johannes, associate professor of languages and Latinx studies. The discussion was in Spanish, but there was a projector in the middle of the exhibit which showed a translation of the conversation in closed captioning and headphones with a live translation.
Gonzalez expressed gratitude that he was able to present his artwork regardless of the distance between the two countries, Chile and America.
Gonzalez has a career that spans decades. He has exhibited murals in Chile, Italy, China, Canada and the United States to name a few. He lived through the Chilean coup d’etat which inspired much of his artwork and murals. Gonzalez described himself as an “artivist” whose art is used as a way to spread the message of social justice.
There was a wide range of mediums used to display the art: colorful tapestries with portraits, tapestries of landscapes, and paper with portraits, designs and symbols of resistance. His work is made through collaborative artwork. The colorful portrait tapestries were created by Gonzalez and a community who also helped to design the patterns. The fabric material was found at a community flea market which further elevates the community feel of the artwork.
“Arte vivo” or live art can be used to describe Gonzalez’ artwork displayed in the exhibit. The exhibit was composed of artwork to remember and honor those lost to the 1973 Chilean coup d’etat. To visualize the dark history that marked a county as a way to make democracy stronger, and to offer a message of hope for a better tomorrow.
For the art to “show we as survivors show hope, the people we lost along the way help show that hope,” said Gonzalez.
The exhibit and artist talk served as a way of bringing the community together and bringing awareness to art as artivism. Students can learn from the artist, “As art students… It’s very important to be exposed to all sorts of different types of art and see it and try to absorb as much as you can from it,” said Alec Ullman, a junior studio arts major.
Aminah Omhanmad, a sophomore Studio Arts major who attended the event and felt happy to see art from a POC artist, said, “It was nice to have a minority artist at the Baker gallery, especially at West Chester, cause our art history is kind of limited to European white artist[s —] so just seeing a[n] artist that’s brown show their art share their backstory is beautiful.”
Dariana Garcia-Bernabe is a fourth-year English major with a minor in Journalism. DG985547@wcupa.edu