Janine at 39, Mother of Twins, a print by artist Margaret Garcia
Cheech Marin's Three Jobs
Comedian donates art to Duke to raise profile of Chicano artists
Monday, April 6, 2009
Durham, NC -- Duke faculty member Pedro Lasch was excited to talk with Cheech Marin backstage at the Durham Performing Arts Center Friday night. While most know Marin for his hippie humor and counter-culture satire, Lasch and others in the art world recognize him as a serious collector of Chicano art.
Backstage, Lasch told Marin that he admires him for his role as an actor/comedian, an art collector and a public intellectual influencing Latino, Hispanic and immigrant culture.
Marin responded: “Well, you know, if you’re Chicano, you have to have three jobs.”
After watching Marin perform with partner Tommy Chong in the “Cheech & Chong Light Up America and Canada” show, Lasch joined George McLendon, dean of faculty for arts and sciences; Sally Deutsch, dean of social sciences; and Jenny Snead Williams, executive director of Latino/a Studies backstage to thank Marin for donating a portfolio of Chicano art from his personal collection to Duke’s Program in Latino/a Studies in the Global South.
Marin talked with the faculty members about the region’s growing Latino population. He said he had one important request in donating the art.
“Display it,” Marin said. “I want people to see it. I think it’s important that Latinos in Durham see their culture represented on the walls.”
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Cheech Marin meets with Duke officials following his concert Friday. Photo by David Jarmul
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The portfolio contains 26 giclee prints plus 29 rice paper linocut portraits of the artists. A teaching guide for high school students is also included. The portfolio is temporarily on view in the Latino/a Studies resource room and the program is currently brainstorming ways to make the art accessible for people at Duke and in the Durham community.
Marin, who has collected Chicano art for more than 30 years, said he chooses pieces that he likes. He’s helped discover so many new artists that now, he says, they seek him out “when the rent’s due.”
Marin describes his passion for collecting Chicano art in a short film that accompanies the prints. In it, he shares his life's mission to elevate public consciousness through art and to validate Chicano artists who’ve struggled for acceptance in American art museums. The film also features the personal journeys of some of the artists.
The stories demonstrate how Chicano art evolved from a political movement in the late 1960s to be seen as a legitimate and respected art school.
Duke is one of several colleges and universities to receive the limited edition portfolio of art.
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Left, La Lechuza (The Owl Woman) by Alex Rubio; Right, Hombre que le Gustan las Mujeres (The Man Who Loves Women) by Cesar Martinez |
