Detention at the Border of Language
Enrique Chagoya
Detention at the Border of Language
2019, lithograph, 22×30 inches
After “The Abduction of Daniel Boone’s Daughter by the Indians, 1853, by Charles (Karl) F. Wimar
“In this work I defang the stereotypes of Native Americans depicted as primitive savages in the painting by Wimar. The mask and the Mayan head team up with a third character to form a fictitious, original, trans-continental Border Patrol. This work is a humorous reminder that all nations in the Americas were created by un-documented immigrants from Europe. Today, some politicians call refugees from Central America and other countries “illegal aliens” but for me they are no different from the Pilgrims or Daniel Boone’s daughter. Xenophobia goes against the spirit of this great country I immigrated to and adopted as my home when I became an American citizen.”
Bio
Drawing from his experiences living on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border in the late 1970s, and also in Europe in the late 1990s, Enrique Chagoya juxtaposes secular, popular, and religious symbols in order to address the ongoing cultural clash between the United States, Latin America, and the world. He uses familiar pop icons to create deceptively friendly points of entry for the discussion of complex issues. Through these seemingly harmless characters, Chagoya examines the recurring subject of colonialism and oppression that continues to riddle contemporary American foreign policy.