Latino Visions: Contemporary Chicano, Puerto Rican, and Cuban American Artists (Book Report Biography) (Library Binding)

by James D. Cockcroft (Author), Jane Canning (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-This clearly laid out book traces the social, political, and cultural events and traditions that have shaped Latino artists and their works. Exploring cultural and religious history as well as the function of identity as expressed in art, four chapters consider in turn the art of the Southwest santeros, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans. Specific artists are singled out and highlighted in sidebars. Their work is analyzed and, when possible, the artists speak for themselves. It is in these first-person "interview" sections that the book most vividly comes to life. Most artists address the formative role of their traditional social milieu and the sense of difference from mainstream Anglo society, noting these as determinative elements in creating their unique styles. Frequent black-and-white illustrations and photographs of the artists extend the pedantic text, as do two sections of color plates. Aimed at an older audience than Harriet Rohmer's Just Like Me (Children's Book Pr., 1997), Latino Visions does much to elucidate the role of heritage in defining a worldview and an artistic response. This is certainly not pleasure reading, but it does provide a sound and comprehensive source of information on several aspects of Latino art.-Ann Welton, Terminal Park Elementary School, Auburn, WA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Steel's fifty-first novel has all the elements her fans crave--wealthy characters, lavish settings, and an opulent lifestyle. In December of 1974, Kate receives the quintessential dreaded phone call: her husband Joe's plane exploded, and no one survived. She is assailed with memories, beginning with the day they met some 33 years before at a debutante ball. Kate was only 17 but seemed much older as she was accustomed to such settings, while Joe at 29 was uncomfortable and only came at the request of his friend, Charles Lindbergh. Nonetheless, there is an instant rapport between them, and they exchange letters while Kate attends Radcliffe College. They realize that they're falling in love but restrain from commitment when WWII erupts and Joe is sent to England as a flying ace. When Joe comes back to the States to receive a medal, they consummate their love, but Joe is reluctant to get engaged. And so it goes. Joe is obsessed with flying and establishing his airline company, inducing a frustrated Kate to marry someone else, but Joe remains the love of her life and, well, there are no surprises here. It's a typical Steel soap opera that seems, oddly, to take the form of a male fantasy in which the woman is totally subservient to her macho flying man's needs and desires. The reviews in this section cover books for young people from preschool through high school. "Older Readers" encompasses the junior-high and high-school ages; "Middle Readers," grades three to six (and first chapter books for younger readers); and "the Young," preschool through grade two. Grade levels are used to indicate books that children can read themselves, age levels to indicate a recommendation for a picture book to be read aloud. Adult books with YA appeal or use are recommended in the adult books and Upfront sections and are marked with a ^BYA symbol that is followed by brief comments from our professional YA reviewers.Gr. 7-12. Politics and the struggle for human rights are an integral part of this Latino art history. Whether Cockcroft is talking about the rediscovery of traditional Indian art, the community murals on city streets, or the culture of living on the border, "uprooted yet putting down roots," he makes you value "people's art," to be viewed not in imposing museums but as part of public life. At the same time, he does talk about individual Latino artists--one chapter each on Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans--with stirring detail about their images of beauty, magic, humor, family love, spiritual faith, and social commitment. It makes you want to see the individual works. Two inserts of full-color plates provide just a taste of the visual; there are also prints in black and white and several short, boxed biographies of leading artists. Chapter notes, bibliographies, and a list of online sites will help those who want to see more. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Library Binding: 143 pages
• Publisher: Franklin Watts (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531113124
• ISBN-13: 978-0531113127
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,922,807 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Intro Survey of Latino Art, February 23, 2001

By	Timothy W. Drescher (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This is a superb introductory survey of Latino visual arts as practiced in the United States by artists of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban descent. It would be an excellent selection for libraries, and as a high school text or adjunctive college text. The book's exposition is guided by respect for (and a complex undersanding of) the artists' works, a strategy that avoids pigeon-holing works which often do not fit well into conventional categories. Cockcroft is respectful of the people and their struggles, as well as knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the art. It is beautifully written. (Would that more such texts were written with such clarity as well as such a comprehensive and respectful perspective). It should be especially inspiring to young adult readers, offering as it does example after example of integrity, repect for cultural roots, principled opposition to arbitrary restrictions/oppressions--all expressed creatively with a wide variety of examples, accompanied by excellent photographic illustrations. And the artists are examples of success, too, since many of them have successful careers in galleries and with museum purchases of their works. An example of how Cockcroft integrates diverse elements in discussing the examples, is when he notes the presence of doilies in a Nick Quijano work. Cockcroft says they are present in many Puerto Rican households, then parenthetically explains that this is beacuse "many women did needlework as a way to get extra income' (p.96). Thus do the works "come alive" for the reader. This is a book about the meanings of complex cultures and of individual experiences within (and apart from) them, illuminated by examinations of specific artworks. It is an impressive achievement, and a superior introduction to the artworks discussed, and also to their originating cultures and social and political and mystical beliefs. In short, it is a book aobut art, but it is really a book about respect and tolerance intoday's United States based on knowledge and human decency.