There’s only a few days left to see the latest exhibit at Munzón Gallery—an encapsulation of the work ethic of the Latine community. “Hecho Con Ganas” can be roughly translated as “to do with passion,” and is meant to describe the hard work of Latines.
Five artists participated in this exhibit, all of whom are graduates of Cal State Long Beach’s art school. On the gallery walls, viewers can see their depictions of workers in a variety of roles—selling flowers, sewing, wearing a hard hat.
“Living under capitalism, marginalized people have to find ways to survive, and sometimes immigrants do the hardest, least respected work,” printmaker Álvaro D. Márquez said. “[…] I’m just trying to show the dignity of that work.”
As an artist and the son of field workers, Márquez takes note on the ways working class people in Los Angeles make a living for themselves and their families. “Hecho Con Ganas” includes the black and white print “South Central – Broadway,” in which Márquez depicts a vendor he saw standing outside a tortilla shop in South Central Los Angeles years ago.
“I really want [viewers] to connect with the pieces,” Munzón said. “Especially as a Latina, I feel like a lot of the pieces are inspired by some of the things that our relatives or that our parents went through.”
That is the case for Estefania Ajcip, who contributed her three-dimensional paintings “The Red Truck” and “Cartas a Papi,” both of which center around her long-distance relationship with her father after he left Guatemala to go work in the United States.
One of the only possessions he left behind with his family was his red truck, which Ajcip cherished. Her family eventually had to get rid of it because they could not afford the upkeep on the vehicle.
In “The Red Truck” a small girl lays in the truck bed, with a child’s drawings of the sun, mountains, clouds and balloons directly behind her. The little girl has a forlorn look on her face and has one hand extended in front of her, almost as if she’s caressing the truck bed. Ajcip said the work is meant to express that the child doesn’t want to get rid of the truck because of the memories and connections tied to it.
The door to the truck is made of foam board, and sticks out from the painting. Real lights were attached to either side of the canvas for the truck’s tail lights.
In “Cartas a Papi,” which translates to “Letters to Papi,” a teddy bear comes out of the canvas, while nestled in the arms of a young girl. The girl stands in a cornfield in Guatemala, leaning against her father’s back as he works on an industrial sewing machine.
The painting represents the limited communication her family was able to maintain across borders through letters.
“The only connection we had was letters,” Ajcip said. “We didn’t have the luxury to say, ‘Oh, let’s travel and go check out how Dad’s doing’ or things like that. So the only communication we had was through letters.”
Johnny Castillo also contributed a piece of artwork inspired by his father. In the monochromatic oil painting “Apa’s Vision,” a solemn-looking man in a hardhat and T-shirt stares to his left.
The composition and color of the oil painting were taken from a painting by 17th century artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, titled “The Man with the Golden Helmet,” in which an old soldier gazes off to the left.
“He’s looking to his left, almost with like a warrior’s gaze,” Castillo said of the portrait of his father. “And I feel like that’s what he has been for us, a warrior in many ways, and so that’s how this piece came together.”
Ajcip wants people who see her work to think about what immigrants leave behind in an effort to make better lives for themselves and their families, and believes this message applies to immigrants from different backgrounds.
“For example, what’s happening in Ukraine—a lot of them are immigrating here and they’re leaving not only their country, but they’re leaving their spouse, they’re leaving a pet or something,” Ajciip said. “That’s the connection I want to make, what it feels like having that absence, of not having that person with you.”
“Hecho Con Ganas” will be on display at Munzón Gallery (1730 E Anaheim St.) from noon to 4 p.m. until Saturday, March 11. A closing reception will be held Saturday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.