Xican-a.o.x. Body is the first major exhibition to showcase work by artists who foreground the body as a site of political agency and imagination, artistic investigation, decolonization, and alternative forms of community. The exhibition’s title is based on the term, Chicano, that is traditionally defined as an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans who embrace their indigenous ancestry. The exhibition emerges at the intersection of experimental artistic practices dating back to the Chicano Movement’s key years in the 1960s and 1970s and embraces the work of artists who identify in myriad ways—including Mexican American, Chicana/o, Xicanx, Indigenous, Latinx, Black, Brown, and Queer.
The curatorial framework of Xican-a.o.x. Body draws from the idea of the Brown Commons, a term that was coined by the writer José Esteban Muñoz. According to Muñoz’s definition, Brownness is articulated as a feeling and experience of people who exist within an “in-betweenness” and are thus read as Other. Another important framework stems from the idea of Xicanisma, a term that was conceived by the writer and poet Anna Castillo to define a socioeconomic and culturally specific type of Chicana feminism. Xican-a.o.x. Body features conceptual, experimental, and pioneering works from the late 1960s to the present using a diverse range of media—from poetry and ceramics to painting, photography, sculpture, film, performance, and drawings—that enlighten our understanding of Xicanx art and culture.
Ken Gonzales Day: Erased Lynchings III, 9-Unidentified African American Man, 1928, 2019
Radical Violence / Radical Resistance: Ken Gonzales-Day
The artworks in this section resist abusive stereotypes against Brown and Black people. They confront and experiment with histories of cruelty and aim to raise awareness of trauma while highlighting humanity, resilience, resistance, and care. These works show the potential for transformation, questioning, and healing now and in the future.
Ken Gonzales-Day is a Los Angeles-based conceptual artist who explores race, identity, and representation through photography, conceptual art, installations, writing, and research. His Erased Lynchings series is based on his research uncovering over 350 lynchings of Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, and African-Americans in California from 1850 to 1935. The series uses images from lynching souvenir postcards and archival sources, where Gonzales-Day digitally removes the victims and ropes. This shifts the focus to the perpetrators and the social dynamics of the events, highlighting the historical erasure of these victims and preventing their re-victimization.
According to the NAACP, lynching postcards were a macabre form of memorabilia common in the United States from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. These postcards featured photographs of lynched African Americans and were used to normalize and spread the ideology of white supremacy. The practice of lynching itself was a violent public act that white people used to terrorize and control Black people and people of color, often carried out by mobs with the undercover or active participation of law enforcement.
Gonzales-Day addresses historical gaps and the erasure of marginalized communities through his art. His work often emphasizes restorative justice practices, seeking to recover and publicly discuss overlooked histories and injustices. Understanding this dark chapter in American history is crucial for recognizing the ongoing struggles against racial violence and for fostering a more just society.