How Chicana women artists have often used the figure of the Virgin of Guadalupe for political messages

Chicana artist Yolanda Lopez's artwork: 'Portrait of the Artist as the Virgin of Guadalupe.' Yolanda Lopez, CC BY-NC-ND

In 1975, Chicano artist Amado M. Peña depicted police brutality by showing the bloodied head of 12-year-old Santos Rodriguez, whom Dallas police had shot for allegedly stealing $8 from a vending machine. The painting “Aquellos que han muerto,” translated as “Those who have died,” further listed the names of other Chicano youth killed by police.

Across the background, Peña included rows of skulls – a gesture that art historian E. Carmen Ramos explains “conjures death and connects with skull imagery frequently used in Mesoamerican religious practices and modern Mexican art.”