Linda Vallejo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Linda Vallejo
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| Born | 1951 |
| Education | Whittier College California State University, Long Beach |
| Movement | Chicano Art Movement |
| Spouse(s) | Ron Dillaway |
| Awards | COLA Individual Artist Fellowship, Durfee Foundation Completion grant, California Community Foundation |
Linda Vallejo was born in 1951 in East Los Angeles. She is an American artist who creates paintings, sculptures, and ceramics. Her art often explores her Mexican-American background. She shows how it fits into American art and popular culture.
Linda started an art gallery called Galería Las Américas. She is also an art teacher. She has learned about traditional Native American and Mexican customs for many years. Her art was shown in big exhibitions like "Pacific Standard Time." These shows highlighted art from Los Angeles between 1945 and 1980. Her work was part of exhibits about women's art and the Chicano Art Movement.
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About Linda Vallejo
Linda Vallejo was born in East Los Angeles. Her father was in the United States Air Force. Because of his job, her family moved often. Linda earned her first degree in Fine Arts from Whittier College in 1973. She also studied art in Spain at the Autonomous University of Madrid. Later, she received her Master of Fine Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach in 1978.
Today, Linda Vallejo lives in Topanga, California. She is married to Ron Dillaway, whom she wed in 1977. They have two sons named Robert and Paul.
In 1973, Linda was one of the first art teachers at Self-Help Graphics. This group helps the Latino community in Los Angeles with art classes. She has shown her art in many exhibitions there over the years.
Linda Vallejo's Art
Linda Vallejo's early artworks used symbols from Mexican traditions. She often used Surrealism in her paintings. This style made her art feel like a dream. Many of her pieces were inspired by her own dreams.
Around 2010, Linda started a famous art series. It is called "Make 'Em All Mexicans." She bought old books with characters like Dick and Jane. Then, she changed their skin color in her art. She also took famous American figures and made them look Mexican. These included Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe. She gave them tanned skin and sometimes tattoos.
A scholar named Karen Mary Davalos has studied Linda's art. Davalos said that Vallejo "recolored" white figures to brown. She noted that Linda's series makes viewers think. It shows that racial ideas are often "only skin-deep."
In 2016, Linda continued her "Make 'Em All Mexican" series. She "brown-washed" Hollywood stars like Cate Blanchett and Ben Affleck. She also changed Oscar statues. This got a lot of attention. It happened during the #OscarsSoWhite campaign. This campaign pointed out the lack of diversity in Hollywood.
Linda Vallejo's art helps people think about identity. It makes them question how race is seen in popular culture.
Art Exhibitions
Linda Vallejo's art has been shown in many places. She has had over 20 solo exhibitions. Her work has been part of more than 100 group shows. These exhibitions have been in museums and galleries. They have taken place across the United States. Her art has also been shown in Mexico and Spain.
Her work was featured in three traveling exhibitions. These included "Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation" (1990-1993). Another was "My Hero: Contemporary Art & Superhero Action" (2016-2018). Linda also had a big show called "Fierce Beauty: A Forty-Year Retrospective." This show looked back at 40 years of her art. Her "Make 'Em All Mexican" series also traveled to many museums. These included the Fresno Art Museum and the Lancaster Museum of Art and History.
Art Collections
Linda Vallejo's artwork is part of several important collections. Her pieces can be found at the Carnegie Museum in California. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art also has her work. You can see her art at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. Her art is also kept at the California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives. This archive is at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center also holds her art.
Linda Vallejo's Thoughts
Linda Vallejo has shared her thoughts on art and life. She believes we should protect nature. She said, "I don't believe a healthy human culture can be sustained by destroying nature." She thinks we need to connect with nature.
About her "Make 'Em All Mexican" series, she said in 2016: "Today Make 'Em All Mexican is a satire, but it's also a peek into the future." She noted that many students in California are Latino. Her art helps us imagine a different future.
