美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Murales Rebeldes!': These Disappearing LA Murals Mirror Their Community

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Now we're going to tour the threatened Chicano murals of East Los Angeles.

Most of the shops have signs in Spanish. There are places selling fruit juice, wedding dresses. And in a little storefront, a bunch of women are exercising to Latin music.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SHAPIRO: We're standing¹ at the corner of Cesar Chavez and Soto Street in the middle of the Boyle Heights neighborhood, which is a Latino neighborhood where there are Chicano murals that were painted largely in the '60s, '70s and '80s reflecting the political debates of the time, whether it was over education, the Vietnam War, civil rights. One of these murals right in front of us is called "El Corrido De Boyle Heights," "The Ballad² of Boyle Heights." And it shows a woman singing in the center of the image surrounded by men - one with a guitar, one with a violin - people dancing on the side. It's an exuberant³, brightly colored image.

ERIN CURTIS: Los Angeles during this time in the 1970s and moving into the 1980s became known as the mural capital of the world.

SHAPIRO: Erin Curtis is the curator of a new exhibit in Los Angeles called "Murales Rebeldes," or "Rebellious⁴ Murals." The show highlights surviving murals and some that no longer exist, documenting the Chicano political movement that animated⁵ Mexican-American communities in Los Angeles.

CURTIS: Some murals have been painted over as neighborhoods change. Other murals have been censored⁶ or contested because of their political content.

SHAPIRO: It's an interesting juxtaposition⁷. We're standing on a busy street with corner stores. It looks like a relatively⁸ low-income area. And at this intersection⁹ is a huge piece of art that looks like it could be hanging in any fine art museum depicting¹⁰ the life of this neighborhood.

CURTIS: Chicano muralists really worked on breaking down those distinctions between high art and low art. They often worked outside of museums because institutional spaces didn't welcome Chicano artists at that time. So they forged their own paths and started to work in a different style. They worked on walls outdoors. They did these murals with the input¹¹ of the local community.

SHAPIRO: There is an almost kind of fetishization of street art these days...

CURTIS: Yes.

SHAPIRO: ...Where Banksy can paint something on the side of a building and suddenly it's worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Is it strange to see that happening at the same time that these Chicano murals that have been around for decades are being torn down, painted over and destroyed?

CURTIS: It's not particularly strange to me. I think that it speaks to the collective value that we place on artworks based on who is making them. They're...

SHAPIRO: You're saying we value artwork by Chicano artists less than we value artwork by a Brit like Banksy.

CURTIS: I absolutely am saying that, yes, in many cases. Now, I want to be clear that within this community this work is valued. But often outside this community it's not seen in the same way and not regarded in the same way.

SHAPIRO: A bus stops in front of this mural, and men and women from the neighborhood pile out.

RITA CHAVEZ: My name is Rita Chavez, 85. You can go to any place and see murals, and it'll tell you what you see in the mirror.

SHAPIRO: So what does this one tell you about what you see in the mirror?

CHAVEZ: Well, what I see here is that this is kind of poor area or middle class. It depends where you live. And it tells you the children you raised. You know, some kind of sad, some happy. But it's trying to tell you the past, what they've been through, and what they're going through now.

SHAPIRO: Next, curator Erin Curtis takes us to see a mural that has been mostly destroyed. It's at a carwash. Both these works of art are by an artist's collective called East Los Streetscapers. One of the painters in the group is Wayne Healy. He's now 71 years old. And he met us at this second mural, which is called "Filling Up On Ancient Energies." When he painted it for a gas station on this site, it was about 20 feet long and 6 feet tall. Now just one small section remains¹², mostly hidden behind a wall of tires. It shows two Mayan deities¹³ and a jaguar¹⁴. Healy told me one of his goals with these murals was to fight negative stereotypes¹⁵.

WAYNE HEALY: One of the things that was motivating that was negative images that were always heaped on us in the movies. You know, you go to the curio shop and you see the Mexican asleep under the cactus¹⁶, stereotypes like that.

SHAPIRO: So you wanted to portray¹⁷ different images of your community?

HEALY: Exactly. I wanted people to look at the mural and think of it as a mirror. They would see themselves in it and would feel good about themselves. Yeah, that's us.

SHAPIRO: Do you think they did make people feel differently about themselves?

HEALY: Absolutely. I can recall a time when I'm painting and some lady's - I look down and she's crying. She's saying, you're telling our story.

SHAPIRO: Wow.

HEALY: You know?

SHAPIRO: A gas station commissioned this mural in 1980. And in 1988, the gas station decided¹⁸ to tear it down. As painful as it may be to see your artwork destroyed, isn't it the right of the gas station that decided to commission it in the first place?

HEALY: Absolutely. It's his right to do what he wants with his property. The law doesn't say you're stuck with our mural. The law says give the artist a chance to remove the mural, take pictures of the mural or do nothing with the mural. But give them 90 days.

SHAPIRO: The law that he's talking about only exists because Healy and other members of his art collective sued Shell for tearing down the wall without telling anybody. The California Art Preservation¹⁹ Act is one step the state has taken to try to preserve some of this art and history. I asked Healy to describe what this mural would have looked like when it was complete.

HEALY: It's about 6 feet tall. And then you'd see dinosaurs²⁰ sinking into the muck of eons of time, converting themselves into fossil fuels. You'd see a refinery²¹. You'd see low riders, which is a car culture of East LA, and they'd be getting filled up. You'd see a car full of guys and a car full of girls flirting²² at each other as they're cruising down Whittier Boulevard.

SHAPIRO: These murals were painted decades ago, speaking to the issues of that time. Do you think that the murals speak to today's issues? Or are they just historical artifacts?

HEALY: They're relevant. Excuse my confidence. They're timeless. History is timeless.

SHAPIRO: The exhibition "Murales Rebeldes!: LA Chicana/Chicano Murals Under Siege" opens in downtown Los Angeles next month, and the book is out now.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE PREMIERS SONG, "GET ON THIS PLANE")

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

3 exuberant   

adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的

参考例句：

• Hothouse plants do not possess exuberant vitality.在温室里培养出来的东西，不会有强大的生命力。
• All those mother trees in the garden are exuberant.果园里的那些母树都长得十分茂盛。

4 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

5 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

6 censored   

受审查的，被删剪的

参考例句：

• The news reports had been heavily censored . 这些新闻报道已被大幅删剪。
• The military-backed government has heavily censored the news. 有军方撑腰的政府对新闻进行了严格审查。

7 juxtaposition   

n.毗邻，并置，并列

参考例句：

• The juxtaposition of these two remarks was startling.这两句话连在一起使人听了震惊。
• It is the result of the juxtaposition of contrasting colors.这是并列对比色的结果。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

10 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

11 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 deities   

n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明

参考例句：

• Zeus and Aphrodite were ancient Greek deities. 宙斯和阿佛洛狄是古希腊的神。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Taoist Wang hesitated occasionally about these transactions for fearof offending the deities. 道士也有过犹豫，怕这样会得罪了神。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文

14 jaguar   

n.美洲虎

参考例句：

• He was green with envy when he saw my new Jaguar car.看见我那辆美洲虎牌新车，他非常妒忌。
• Should you meet a jaguar in the jungle,just turn slowly,walk away.But slowly,never look back.你在丛林中若碰上美洲虎，就慢慢转身走开，可一定要慢，切莫回头看。

15 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 cactus   

n.仙人掌

参考例句：

• It was the first year that the cactus had produced flowers.这是这棵仙人掌第一年开花。
• The giant cactus is the vegetable skycraper.高大的仙人掌是植物界巨人。

17 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

18 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

19 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

20 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

22 flirting   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Don't take her too seriously; she's only flirting with you. 别把她太当真，她只不过是在和你调情罢了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• 'she's always flirting with that new fellow Tseng!" “她还同新来厂里那个姓曾的吊膀子！ 来自子夜部分