Bordilandia: The Art and Language of Chicanos as Exemplified Through Enrique Chagoya and Los Four
Location
PANEL: Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Seniors
Wilder 101
Moderator: Kathryn Metz
Document Type
Presentation - Open Access
Start Date
5-1-2026 11:00 AM
End Date
5-1-2026 12:15 PM
Abstract
Often dismissed as ghetto, broken and incorrect, Spanglish functions as a powerful linguistic practice that reflects the lived realities of many Mexican-Americans. This presentation explores how Chicano artists visually express the same cultural hybridity that appears in Spanglish as a valid form of communication and linguistic survival tool. Drawing on Gloria Anzaldúa's ideas, this project considers how artists similarly resist cultural and linguistic purity through visual expression. Focusing on the work of Enrique Chagoya and the Chicano artist collective Los Four, this presentation examines artistic activism as it manifests in Spanglish visual cues, including reappropriation of pop culture iconography, non-traditional canvases including cars and walls, and how Chicano art functions as a form of visual Spanglish.
Keywords:
Borderlands, Latinx art, Spanglish, Place-making
Recommended Citation
Muñoz, Lluvia, "Bordilandia: The Art and Language of Chicanos as Exemplified Through Enrique Chagoya and Los Four" (2026). Research Symposium. 31.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/researchsymp/2026/presentations/31
Major
Comparative American Studies; Hispanic Studies
Award
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship
Project Mentor(s)
Ana Cristina Perry, Modern & Contemporary Art History and Comparative American Studies
Carmen Merport Quiñones, Comparative American Studies
2026
Bordilandia: The Art and Language of Chicanos as Exemplified Through Enrique Chagoya and Los Four
PANEL: Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Seniors
Wilder 101
Moderator: Kathryn Metz
Often dismissed as ghetto, broken and incorrect, Spanglish functions as a powerful linguistic practice that reflects the lived realities of many Mexican-Americans. This presentation explores how Chicano artists visually express the same cultural hybridity that appears in Spanglish as a valid form of communication and linguistic survival tool. Drawing on Gloria Anzaldúa's ideas, this project considers how artists similarly resist cultural and linguistic purity through visual expression. Focusing on the work of Enrique Chagoya and the Chicano artist collective Los Four, this presentation examines artistic activism as it manifests in Spanglish visual cues, including reappropriation of pop culture iconography, non-traditional canvases including cars and walls, and how Chicano art functions as a form of visual Spanglish.
