The Road to Aztlan: Art from a Mythic Homeland [Paperback]

Virginia M. Fields (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2001

Published in conjunction with the major exhibition, The Road to Aztlan: Art from a Mythic Homeland explores the art derived from and created about the legendary area that encompasses the American Southwest and portions of Mexico long before they were separated by an international border. The book and accompanying exhibition view Aztlan as a metaphoric center and allegorical place of origin for the various peoples of the Southwest and Mexico. Cultural interactions between the two areas span two millennia, beginning with maize cultivation, which spread north from Mexico around BC 1200. The Road to Aztlan also investigates the relationship between myth and history as expressed in art and material culture of the region’s inhabitants over time and the relationship and continuities of cultural practices over the course of the pre-Columbian, colonial, and contemporary eras. Crucial to these changing relationships are aspects of tradition and innovation within cultures as! people sought to negotiate, maintain, and redefine their identities in the face of social disruption.

Nineteen essays by an international team of scholars and artists including Miguel León-Portilla, Ramón A. Gutiérrez, Polly Schaafsma, Stephen H. Lekson, and Victoria D. Vargas address the issues and concepts that revolve around a sense of place and the dynamic traditions of the past and what that means today.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The mythic Aztec homeland of Aztlan an area that covered what is now the American Southwest and some portions of Mexico reverberates throughout the later history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and into the Chicano present. This volume functions as an accompanying text for a Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibition in which virtually all aspects of the artistic traditions associated with this vast region have been assembled resulting in a sprawling, fascinating, and at times inchoate show. Addressing this extraordinary array of objects are 19 essays by scholars and artists who focus on what is now a binational realm and the complex give-and-take of ideas, culture, and material artifacts that have derived from it. Glaringly absent, however, is an adequate discussion of colonial art and the region's half-millennium of Catholicism. Further, the barely adequate checklist will disappoint readers looking for a more focused perspective on the show's exquisite objects. While this is not a completely satisfying effort, collections concerned with the art and peoples of the immense, multifaceted, multicultural arena will require this volume. Robert Cahn, Fashion Inst. of Technology, New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

Published by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Distributed by University of New Mexico Press

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; illustrated edition edition (December 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826324274
• ISBN-13: 978-0826324276
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #762,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Past and present art, March 5, 2007

By 

Enrique Torres "Rico" (San Diegotitlan, Califas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Road to Aztlan: Art from a Mythic Homeland (Paperback)

First check out the editorial reviews here to understand what this book is about. This is a fascinating and beautiful collection of material reflective of Mexican art through the ages. There are ancient manuscripts, drawings rendered from old books, photgraphs of pre-Columbian pottery and art, ancient petroglyphs from the southwest, maps and recent art pieces by Chicano/a artists all recreated tastefully and rendered in an eye appealing manner. The concept of the exhibition and art book created from the exhibition is spectacular and unique. The idea is to tie the evolutionary art process from pre-Columbian times to the contemporary art produced in the southwest. The concept suggests that art is migratory, influenced by culture both past and present, linked to both but unique in it's modern evolutionary vision by contemporary artists. The lands from which this art has evolved is based in Aztlan, a mythical land dating back to pre-Columbian cultures by remains in the hearts and minds of people on both sides of the border. The link between Mexico and the United States and it's people is explored and highlighted by the art of the southwest. This migration, in search of a new land, that continues today, began with the Mexica(Aztecs)pilgrimage and establshment of Tenochitlan in what is now modern Mexico City; this is where the Mexica were said to seen the eagle on the nopal cactus and then build their city of Tenochitlan. The mythical land of Aztlan lives on and is reflective in the art of the southwest. This book explores the relationship, in both essay and photograph, between the citizens of Mexico and the United States and even those who live in the neither land in the fields and dark shadows of Aztlan. This is an oversized book with a wealth of information to help you develop your own understanding of the relationships between past and present in the art of the southwest. Recommended for high schools , community libraries and the southwest art book lovers homes.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!!!, July 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Road to Aztlan: Art from a Mythic Homeland (Paperback)

After seeing the exhibit at LACMA, this book was a great compliment to the art that was shown. It ranged from pre columbian to modern and was very intersting and informative. The photgraphs in the book are complimented by the narration and anaylsis by the author.