Art News

Chicanitas: Small Paintings from the Cheech Marin Collection to open at the Snite Museum of Art

SOUTH BEND, IND.- The Snite Museum of Art presents Chicanitas, Small Paintings from the Cheech Marin Collection on view beginning Sunday, September 4, 2011. This exhibition showcases 65 paintings by 26 painters represented in Cheech Marin’s noted collection of Chicano art. Marin, the entertainer well known for his work in movies, television, and improvisational comedy, has been acquiring art for more than 20 years, and he has amassed one of the most renowned collections of Chicano art in private hands. The Chicano art movement arose in California in response to the political, cultural, and labor causes of the mid-1960s to mid-1970s. Inspired by the struggles of migrant farm workers led by labor organizer César Chávez, Chicanismo evolved into a general political and cultural revolution within the United States, stressing political self-empowerment, an assertion of cultural pride, and an affirmation of ethnic identity