Publications

Metropolitan representations

Zapata

Article for Archis #5, 2001

A political contextualization of Chicano and Black murals in Los Angeles. This article about the political reality behind murals in Los Angeles was published in 2001 in the architectural magazine Archis. It presents excerpts from a report I wrote during a working period in Los Angeles.

How can public art which represents common believes be critical towards ruling ideologies, be of importance to constructing collective identity without compromising to governmental or institutional norms, in what way do prominently outspoken political viewpoints, accessibility, legibility and popular and traditional iconography relate to each other, do these works represent the people who live amongst them, day in day out? Much of the data gathered was provided by Robin Dunitz and the Mural Conservancy, and SPARC; the Social and Public Arts Resource Center