Posted on October 4, 2021 in Review of the Week
Dávila, Arlene M. Duke, 2020
234p bibl index, 9781478008569 $99.95, 9781478009450 $25.95, 9781478009450
Dávila (anthropology and American studies, NYU) is a prolific author—her work includes Sponsored Identities (CH, Apr’98, 35-4570), Latinos, Inc. (CH, Jan’02, 39-2886), Barrio Dreams (CH, Feb’05, 42-3730), and Culture Works (CH, Nov’12, 50-1531). In the present volume she examines the complexities of representing Latinx artists and marketing their art in the contemporary art scene. Drawing on interviews and conversations with artists, art dealers, curators, and other scholars, she considers the impact of race, class, gender, and nationalism in shaping the global art market’s economy, culture, and politics. In the book’s five chapters, the author poses pressing questions about Latinx art through the lens of intersectionality and interrogates the dynamics of identity through the eyes of contemporary artists, showing how nationalism produces troubling entanglements between Latin American and Latinx art. As an advocate for the increased visibility of Latinx art in commercial art spaces and alternate venues at the grassroots/community level, the author calls for radical actions and initiatives that support equity and inclusion in the art market. Appendixes provide checklists of contemporary Latinx artists and art institutions, research organizations, and Instagram archives. This innovative book is required reading for all who are vested in a more diverse art world.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.
Reviewer: L. Estevez, Winston-Salem State University
Interdisciplinary Subjects: Latin American & Latina/o Studies
Subject: Humanities – Art & Architecture
Choice Issue: Jul 2021
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