UC Irvine

The role of an artist in twentieth century Mexico was to artistically define the nation. The period of the 1940s when murals expressed Mexico’s Indigenous past and the history of colonialism is referred to as the Mexican Renaissance. Mexican culture was constructed through the lens of muralists who depicted a masculine nation. These murals shaped the landscape of Mexico. Inspired by the Mexican Renaissance was the Chicano Arts Movement. Chicano artists used art as a form of expressing cultural identity within the United States. However, women artists were not recognized for their contributions. Mexican artists María Izquierdo and Frida Kahlo, and Chicana artists Yolanda M. López and Ester Hernández’s artwork uses religious iconography, such as Catholic and Indigenous imagery to emphasize women’s roles in cultural creation and defining identity.