Hispanic Artists at Smithsonian: New Exhibition Includes 72 Latino Artists

The Smithsonian Institute's American Art Museum is presenting a new exhibition focusing on Latino artists. "Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art" will include 92 works by 72 modern Latino artists from the last fifty years the Spokesman reports. The exhibition's curator, E. Carmen Ramos, says that many US Hispanic artists have been discriminated against in mainstreams museums, not achieving the recognition they deserve. Ramos spoke to Associated Press on Thursday saying "we are at a point in history where Latino art as a field is getting a lot more attention, and we are now able to look at that broad contribution. So we are part of a wave of a revisionist activity that is looking at situation the Latino within the context of the United States."

Hispanic Americans are now the largest ethnic/racial minority in the United States. Despite this, however, the Latino presence in cultural fields has been neglected. This exhibit, which will run for six months, will showcase some of the best Latino artists of the second-half of the twentieth centur in order to demonstrate the significance of Hispanic Americans to the US cultural and social landscape. The exhibition includes works from from abstract expressionism, conceptual art and performances, as well as more traditional styles such as landscape and portraiture. but also more traditional American styles such as landscapes, portraits and scenes from daily lives. The exhibit will also go on tour to Miami, Sacramento, Calif., Salt Lake City, Little Rock, Ark., and Wilmington, Del.