Alma Lopez

FREE Screening of "I LOVE Lupe" at CSULA on October 27 at 6:15 pm

2011-07-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

CSULA's Student Union Theatre will be hosting the screening and discussion of "I LOVE Lupe" in their 200 seat theatre. The university bookstore will have copies available for purchase of Our Lady of Controversy: Alma Lopez's Irreverent Apparition co-edited with Alicia Gaspar de Alba, published by the University of Texas Press. The video is free when you buy the book. Event is free, and general seating available on a first come basis.

This is the trailer of a the 46-minute documentary video titled "I LOVE Lupe" featuring a roundtable conversation with Chicana artists Ester Hernández and Yolanda M. López. For the first time, all three of us artists discuss our "controversial Guadalupes."

"Our Lady" stalked by America Needs Fatima since 2001

2011-07-11T13:13:00.000-07:00

In 2001, the Philadelphia-based America Needs Fatima (ANF) leeched on to the Santa Fe protest against the exhibition of "Our Lady" in Cyber Arte: Tradition Meets Technology at the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA). They sent the museum tens of thousands of protest postcards and held a protest in the museum's parking lot.

In 2003, American Needs Fatima traveled to East Los Angeles to protest my serigraph titled "Our Lady of Controversy" at the annual print exhibition and sale at Self Help Graphics. I heard that they were unseasonably dressed for the summer heat. To avoid any potential heatstroke victims, these protestors were offered water and seats by Self Help Graphics director and staff.

Ten years after the Santa Fe controversy, "Our Lady" was included in an exhibition titled Contemporary Coda at the Oakland Museum. On May 21, 2011 America Needs Fatima was there to protest "Our Lady." This time, instead of postcards, they sent the museum tens of thousands of emails.

Last month, this same group sent ten thousand emails to the University College Cork, and in collaboration with the bishop of Cork and Ross as well as a local politician, riled up Irish citizens to protest "Our Lady" by misrepresenting the image and my intentions.

Who is this group?

According to Wikipedia, America Needs Fatima (ANF) is a campaign of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) lead by Robert Ritchie, executive director since 1996. Their stated goal is to: "win the heart of soul of America for Mary by spreading Our Lady's Fatima message and promoting devotion to Her Immaculate Heart."

Their activities focus on harassing art museums and now, universities such as UCC which exhibit work they find "blasphemous." The numbers of emails and calls hinder the regular activities of these museums and universities by clogging up their emails, and using up staff time. They are a threat to freedom of expression.

They have also organized protests against the television show Ellen, Gay Pride celebration at Disney World, movies such as Dogma and The Golden Compass, the play Corpus Christi in Cincinnati, the Vagina Monologues, and many other cultural events.

Any suggestions on how we can organize in order to protect ourselves from this group?

Our Lady of Controversy in Ireland

2011-07-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

In 1985, during the last quarter of my freshman year at the University of California Santa Barbara, I decided to become an artist.

At that time, I would have never imagined that I was selecting such a dangerous career.

Or, that I would be creating an image that would arouse such strong reactions from fundamentalist Catholics all over the world. For over ten years, “Our Lady” and I have been stalked and harassed by the Philadelphia-based Mariolatrous organization America Needs Fatima (ANF), a campaign of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) lead by executive director Robert Ritchie. America Needs Fatima in collusion with John Buckley, Catholic bishop of Cork and Ross and Cork South Central TD Jerry Buttimer misrepresented my work and my intentions and thereby incited some Catholics in Ireland to declare “Our Lady” as blasphemous.

My photo-based digital print, titled “Our Lady,” is a work of art intended for exhibition in spaces such as museums, galleries, community centers and universities. It is obviously, not an image in a church. Its purpose was not to address Catholics or Catholicism in any way. It is not, as the protesters keep saying, the “Mother of God,” it is a photo of a model named Raquel Salinas, who was posing for me in 1999, in a collaborative effort to discern the meaning of the Virgin of Guadalupe in our own lives. The model is not naked in the photo, she is not wearing a bikini, and she’s not being crude, sexual, or provocative.

In making “Our Lady” my intent was to portray a strong Chicana in the position of respect and honor that is given to the Virgin of Guadalupe. She is adorned with some of the symbols of the Guadalupe, such as the halo, and the crescent moon, but she is also wearing a cape that represents the Aztec moon goddess, Coyolxauhqui, as a representation of both her strength and her indigenous history. For me as a Mexican-born Chicana, the Virgin of Guadalupe is an important cultural image that I grew up with in my family and in my community, and that graces the walls of my own home. More than a religious icon, the Virgin of Guadalupe is a revolutionary image of indigenous resistance to colonization and genocide.

“Our Lady” arrived in Ireland because I was invited by the Department of Hispanic Studies and the Centre for Mexican Studies at UCC to be a keynote speaker and exhibit my work at the conference, “Transitions and Continuities in Chicana/o Culture.” This international conference and exhibition intended to introduce and highlight Chicana/o culture to the university community of Cork.

For three days, from June 23 – 25, a small group of Catholics met for a few hours outside of the UCC gates. On June 24^th, while “I LOVE Lupe” was screening at the Glucksman Gallery (my documentary about the thirty-five-year tradition of Chicana feminist revisionist Guadalupe art), UCC’s Atheist Society joined the demonstration in a counter-protest. The Atheist Society emphasized the ongoing dangerous effect of Ireland’s blasphemy laws on free speech stating that, “theological thought-crimes belong in the past.”

Alicia Gaspar de Alba, my legally-wed same-gender spouse and I returned home from Ireland last weekend feeling happy about bringing our work to Ireland. We thank our hosts and others we met for a memorable time, and hope to return. We encourage Irish citizens to unite to remove the blasphemy laws from their country in order to be free of the threat it poses to their freedom of expression and other rights granted in a democratic society.

I Love Lupe - Video Trailer

2011-03-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

This is the trailer of a 46-minute documentary video by me featuring a roundtable conversation with Chicana artists Ester Hernández and Yolanda M. López. For the first time, all three of us artists discuss our "controversial Guadalupes." This video is free when you buy the book, "Our Lady of Controversy: Alma López's Irreverent Apparition," co-edited by Alicia Gaspar de Alba and myself, published by the University of Texas Press (Chicana Matters), April 2011. More information at www.almalopez.com.

New Year (Chinese) and New Book

2011-02-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

It's been too long since I posted here. Where did the year go? I've been busy teaching, painting, working on videos, and working on a book.

I will add new work to my website soon, and the book entitled, Our Lady of Controversy: Alma Lopez's 'Irreverent' Apparition will be available everywhere in April, or you can pre-order today at a 33% discount directly from the University of Texas Press. If you order it, you will be one of the first people to receive this book which is accompanied by a 47 minute short video titled I Love Lupe.

"An exceptionally important and powerful collection of essays, opening new interpretive paths and new tools for the activist-scholar-student. This is the most serious consideration of the oeuvre of Alma López published to date."—Charlene Villaseñor Black, Associate Professor of Art History, UCLA

Months before Alma López's digital collage Our Lady was shown at the Museum of International Folk Art in 2001, the museum began receiving angry phone calls from community activists and Catholic leaders who demanded that the image not be displayed. Protest rallies, prayer vigils, and death threats ensued, but the provocative image of la Virgen de Guadalupe (hands on hips, clad only in roses, and exalted by a bare-breasted butterfly angel) remained on exhibition.

Highlighting many of the pivotal questions that have haunted the art world since the NEA debacle of 1988, the contributors to Our Lady of Controversy present diverse perspectives, ranging from definitions of art to the artist's intention, feminism, queer theory, colonialism, and Chicano nationalism. Contributors include the exhibition curator, Tey Marianna Nunn; award-winning novelist and Chicana historian Emma Pérez; and Deena González (recognized as one of the fifty most important living women historians in America).

Accompanied by a bonus DVD of Alma López's I Love Lupe video that looks at the Chicana artistic tradition of reimagining la Virgen de Guadalupe, featuring a historic conversation between Yolanda López, Ester Hernández, and Alma López, Our Lady of Controversy promises to ignite important new dialogues.

Alicia Gaspar de Alba is a Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, English, and Women's Studies at UCLA. Her nine previous books encompass historical novels, poetry, short stories, and a cultural study of Chicano art.

Alma López is an artist, activist, and visual storyteller originally from Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Chicana Matters Series: Deena J. González and Antonia Castañeda, editors

Available everywhere in April 2011, but you can pre-order your copy (with a $9.22 discount for paperback) from the University of Texas Press .

6 x 9 in. • 348 pp., 12 color and 34 b&w illus.

ISBN: 978-0-292-72642-0
$27.95, paperback • 33% website discount: $18.73

ISBN: 978-0-292-71992-7
$55.00, hardcover, no dust jacket • 33% website discount: $36.85

Sex y Corazon Symposium, Feb 12 at UCLA

2010-01-17T10:07:00.000-08:00

On Friday, February 12, 2010 the César E. Chávez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies and Chair Alicia Gaspar de Alba will be hosting a one-day symposium that looks back over the last fifteen years of Chicana/o Studies and examines how Chicana/o queer and feminist scholars have changed the field.

This historical symposium will gather over twenty-five Chicana and Chicano scholars and practitioners whose work intersects race, class, gender and sexuality paradigms within both traditional and interdisciplinary fields. Speakers will also speak to how their scholarship and activism utilizes love as a political strategy for social change.

The symposium is free and open to the public.

Online registration required athttp://sites.google.com/site/sexycorazon2010/.

Seating is limited so register today.

Ana Castillo and Alicia Gaspar de Alba

2009-08-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

Ana Castillo and Alicia Gaspar de Alba will read, discuss and sign their latest novels on Sunday, August 16 from 2 to 4pm.

Book signing will follow reading. Writers will have books for sale. Artist will have prints, posters and magnets for sale.

This all will happen at my studio at 711 South Kern Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90022.

As you notice if reading this, the date changed from Friday to Saturday. We didn't want anyone to have to brave L.A. traffic under August heat.

For those of you who write me here under "Anonymous," I don't know how to reply to you.

See our wedding pictures on Courage Campaign Fidelity ad in Spanish

2009-06-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

Calligraphy of the Witch by Alicia Gaspar de Alba

2008-11-04T15:09:00.001-08:00

Please check out the trailer I just put together for Alicia Gaspar de Alba's novel Calligraphy of the Witch on youtube.com at below or at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEnxHoH3cTY.

Special thanks to the incredibly talented Adelina Anthony. Also making a special cameo is Luna Azul.

This was my first time making a book trailer. Most importantly, it was my first time using green screen. It was a learning experience, especially since my external hard drive failed. After all the drama, it was really well worth the time and effort to learn to use this special effect.

Name Change After Marriage

2008-10-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

I decided to legally change my name. My new legal name is Alma Lopez Gaspar de Alba. Of course, I carefully considered this important decision.

Honestly, it was just easier to not change my name at all. I wouldn't have to stand in waiting lines at Social Security or DMV. Nor would I have to pay for a new driver's license nor a new passport. Not to mention all the other documents I will need to update.

Aside from the time consuming and economic issues, there is also the unpracticality of having a REALLY long name. Alicia usually has to mispronounce her name as well as spell it several times.

So why would I want to add her last name to mine? Well, sometimes I am realistic and practical. I know that I live in a homophobic world. This is a fact made evident by such things as Proposition 8. The only purpose of this proposition is to restrict rights. I am hopeful that Californians will vote NO on Proposition 8 in November, and that all the same gender couples who married these last few months will be able to remain legally married.

When I was considering my decision whether to change my name or not, my good friend Lindsey told me that the countless hospital trips as well as the funeral arrangements for her late husband were made a little less difficult by not being constantly questioned, "and who are you?"

This story convinced me the most. I know that unfortunately health issues and accidents happen. And since, we travel frequently due to our work, something may happen when we aren't in a state which recognizes our marriage. That is highly likely, since there are many more places which don't recognize same gender marriage. I'm hoping that being able to easily prove that we are family who share a last name may make a hard situation just a little less difficult.

Dia de Muertos at Self Help Graphics

2008-10-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

This year's Dia de Muertos exhibition is curated by Reina Prado. The theme is "A Call To Witness: All Is Not Forgotten." This event celebrates Self Help Graphics' 35 year anniversary. The exhibition opens to the public on Sunday, November 2 at 3pm and runs through November 29, close of day. A preview of the exhibition will be held on Saturday, November 1 during the creation of the Community Altar, lead by Ofelia Esparza.

My friend Rigo Maldonado invited me to collaborate with him on an altar installation. We have been friends for over 10 years. We met while he was an undergraduate at UCLA. He is currently pursuing an art education degree at CSULB.

Although we are both saddened about the current Self Help Graphic's financial and building circumstances, we are glad to be collaborating on this exhibition. After multiple working discussions, we decided to make a community altar titled "Nepantla 35." We appreciate that our lives are so much fuller because of our friends, and we recognize that at times our friends are closer to us than any family member. This altar is dedicated to all of our families, including those which we make as we live.

Our altar will consist of hanging pine wood box frames. Each box frame will hold a photo and some will hold personally meaningful objects for that person. The photos are of our own family members and friends as well as family members and friends of our friends. The pine wood boxes remind us of the boxes we live in (our homes), the boxes we travel in (our cars, buses, planes and trains) and the boxes we rest in (our coffins and urns).

Pictured above is one of the box frames with a photo of Antonio Gaspar de Alba. He is Alicia's father. His box has a deck of cards because he was a blackjack player. Alicia says, "He was lucky until the last day of his short 52 year old life."

Traditions and rituals such as Dia de Muetos teach us that life and death are on a continuous cycle. Our community altar not only remembers and welcomes the spirits of family and friends, but also acknowledges and honors concepts of extended families and our interconnectedness with each other. The lines are blurred between family and friendships, between beginnings and endings, and between life and death.

For more exhibition and event information visit Self Help Graphics at http://www.selfhelpgraphics.com/events/diadelosmuertos.php

I'm also participating in the Dia de Muertos exhibition curated by artist Barbara Carrasco at Avenue 50 in Highland Park. For more information, visit www.avenue50studio.com

Our Lady of Controversy

2008-09-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

Alicia and I are working on editing a publication of essays titled Our Lady of Controversy: Alma Lopez's Irreverent Apparition. Please read more about the Our Lady image and the controversy on my website at http://www.almalopez.com or http://www.almalopez.net. Either address leads you to the same site.

If you are an artists (or if you know an artist, please forward) who has created an image using the icon of the Virgen of Guadalupe, please submit your work for consideration to be included in the DVD which will accompany this book.

This publication with DVD will be published by the University of Texas Press (Chicana Matters Series) in the Fall of 2010.

Our Wedding and NO on 8

2008-09-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

Alicia Gaspar de Alba and I were married on Saturday, August 16. We selected this date because it was a full moon with a partial eclipse earlier that day. Also, the Electra yacht in Newport Beach was available that night. It was a small wedding. We shared this day with only 50 family members and friends We wanted to keep the wedding ceremony, dinner and dance on the yacht intimate and comfortable. So, unfortunately, we weren't able to invite many more of our friends.

In this photo, Alicia and I are accompanied by Alicia's mom and sister, our best women (my sister Leti and Alicia's aunt Margot), our four madrinas/godmothers (Ayde, Lindsey, Deena, and Alicia's cousin Blanca), our ring bearers (my niece Amber and Alicia's godchild Bianca), and our flower girls (my nieces Sydney, Sarah and Allison).

The ceremony was performed by Captain Chuck Pieper. He and Alicia worked closely tailoring the ceremony for us. I read a poem by Francisco Alarcon and Alicia read a poem she wrote for us. We had a sand ceremony. The sand vase currently sits in the center of a bookshelf wall in our living room. At the conclusion of the ceremony, our family and friends blew bubbles as Alicia and I danced down the isle to "I Believe in Miracles/You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate.

For the dinner tables, the madrinas helped us make recuerdos consisting of two refrigerator magnets and chocolate covered sunflower seeds in small boxes. We also made our own orchid centerpieces and personalized candles. Everyone, even our vegetarian friends, said they enjoyed dinner.

We had a three layer cake. The bottom layer was white with lemon cream cheese and fresh raspberries. The center layer was white with chocolate truffle and fresh raspberries. The top layer was carrot cake with cream cheese. Unfortunately, Alicia and I only had a tiny bite size slice each of the bottom layer while we posed for the cutting cake ceremony pictures. We ate some of the top layer in our hotel room after the wedding. We are looking forward to our one year anniversary complimentary cake from Cinderella Cakes next summer. It's going to have to be the white with lemon cream cheese and fresh raspberries.

Alicia and I danced all night long. Our first dance was "El Vals de las Mariposas" performed by Chalinillo. The money dance, I think was "La Pollera Colora." Well, at least the first money dance song. The money dance just seemed to go on and on. The flowers girls kept borrowing $1 bills from all the guests to dance with us.

August 16 was an amazingly beautiful and memorable day for us, our family, and friends. We feel so fortunate to have each other to share the rest of our years together. We are so glad that the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of same gender marriage.

Alicia and I are very happy together. How can our happiness and our marriage affect heterosexual marriages negatively? I don't see how.

But, you can help save our happy marriage. Please vote NO on California's Proposition 8 in November.