Luis Jiménez

Vaquero

Luis Jiménez
Modeled 1980, cast 1990, Mexican American (born 1940, El Paso, Texas)
Cast fiberglass and epoxy 16 1/2 ft. high
National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Gift of Judith and Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Anne and Ronald Abramson, Thelma and Melvin Lenkin


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Another view of the work is available on the National Museum of American Art server.

Index

• Biographical Background
• Cultural Context
• Discussion Questions and Activities
• Elementary
• Middle School
• High School
• Medium
• References
• Theme
• Timeline

Biographical Background

Luis Jiménez grew up in El Paso, Texas, within a strong crafts tradition; one grandfather had been a glassblower in Mexico, another was a carpenter who immigrated from Mexico after 1910.

Jiménez's father, a widely known and inventive neon-sign maker, apprenticed his son in his own studio. Jiménez studied art and architecture at the University of Texas, receiving his bachelor of fine arts degree in 1964. After a brief sojourn in Mexico, he began teaching art in an El Paso junior high school. His teaching career abruptly ended when, as the result of an automobile accident, he was temporarily paralyzed from the chest down.

After moving to New York in 1966, Jiménez began producing painted fiberglass figurative works. During the course of a five-year stay, his activities also included recruiting children for Head Start and supervising youth board activities for neighborhood centers.

Now living in Hondo (a small town in New Mexico), Jiménez continues to make heroic public art inspired by the lives of everyday people.

Cultural Context

In the 1960s Jiménez traveled to Mexico to reaffirm his Mexican ancestry as well as his commitment to the type of figurative art found in the murals of Mexico City. One of the reasons Jiménez's art is often compared with that of artists such as Diego Rivera and Thomas Hart Benton is that he shares the same social concerns for working-class people and those who have suffered from various forms of discrimination.

Because of his identification with community values, Jiménez has created public sculpture that seeks to eliminate elitism and command attention from all segments of society. By elevating common deeds to the heroic, he attempts to change the way society views itself. Vaquero captures the excitement of bronco busting in a style reminiscent of Frederic Remington and questions widely held historical beliefs. In addition to historically reevaluating the cowboy legends, the glassy finish of Vaquero allows it to be examined within yet another context -- that of commercial advertising as found along modern city streets.

Medium

Jiménez creates public sculpture using a vibrant, contemporary medium -- fiberglass -- cast around steel armatures and airbrushed. Before creating these larger-than-life pieces, Jiménez develops and reworks his ideas in detailed drawings, cutouts, and small-scale models. After casting and joining a series of molds, Jiménez painstakingly airbrushes layers of color on the fiberglass surface, creating a glossy, bright plastic finish that enhances the realism of his sculptural forms. Because fiberglass with an epoxy coating withstands the extremes of winter and summer weather, it is an ideal medium for an artist creating multiple editions of a singular work for different parts of the country. Vaquero can be seen both at the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., and in the heart of a barrio in Houston, Texas.

Theme

Reaffirming the past

Much of what we consider integral to the American West had its origins in Mexico. With Vaquero, Luis Jiménez reaffirms the significance of Mexican contributions to this aspect of American history by stripping away popular stereotypes and creating monumental testimony to the Mexican vaquero, one of the original frontier cowboys.

Timeline

1494
Horses and cattle introduced to the Americas by the Spanish.

c. 1600s-1770
Vaqueros bring cattle north from Mexico into Texas, California, and other parts of the Southwest.

1771-83
England's thirteen North American colonies revolt. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence is signed.

1810
Father Miguel Hidalgo declares Mexico's independence from Spain.

1821-24
Mexico wins independence from Spain, becoming the Republic of Mexico. Immigrants to Mexico begin widespread colonization, resisting control of Mexican government.

1830s
Mexican vaqueros travel to Hawaii to train the paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy).

1836
Texas wins independence from Mexico.

1845
Texas becomes 28th U.S. state. The term manifest destiny is used to justify the annexation of Texas.

1846-48
Mexican-American War. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

1865
End of U.S. Civil War (1861-65). Cowboys increase in western states as former soldiers, seeking work, move west.

1873
Barbed wire invented, providing a cheap alternative to wooden fences.

1921-24
U.S. Congress institutes immigrant quota laws. Border Patrol established to monitor and restrict entry of Mexicans.

1931-34
500,000 Mexicans forced out of United States and deported to Mexico.

1940
Luis Jiménez born in El Paso, Texas.

1942-64
Mexican and U.S. government permit braceros (Mexican workers) to work seasonally on U.S. farms and ranches.

1965
César Chávez's United Farm Workers join Delano (California) grape strike; Chicano civil rights movement strengthened.

1986
U.S. Immigration Reform and Control Act gives legal resident status to immigrants and possibility of citizenship.

1989
Vaquero created

References

J. Beardsley and J. Livingston. Hispanic Art in the United States (New York: Abbeville Press, 1987).

M. Davis. Mexican Voices/American Dreams (New York: Henry Holt, 1990).

L. Lippard. Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America (New York: Pantheon Books, 1990).

J. Quirarte. Mexican-American Artists (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1973).

R. Slatta. Cowboys of the Americas (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990).

Discussion Questions & Activities

Index

• Elementary
• Middle School
• High School

Elementary Discussion Questions

• Aesthetics - Does this horse remind you of a carousel horse you might have seen in an amusement park or at your local shopping plaza? What do such comparisons suggest? Do you consider this sculpture to be beautiful? Does that make a difference? Why or why not? Do you consider the shopping mall or amusement park rides to be beautiful?
• Art Criticism - List all the things you recognize that are part of this sculpture (horse, cactus, bandanna, etc.). How do these things suggest different parts of the United States? What is the artist telling us about these places? What other parts of the sculpture make reference to a particular time or place? How might this information affect your evaluation of Jiménez's work?
• Art History - When and where might this have been a common scene? Does this sculpture look old or new? What gives it that appearance? What does it tell us about the past or present? What possibilities does it pose for the future? Explain.
• Production - Why has the artist placed a cactus between the horse's front legs? Could this placement serve as a support to balance the weight of the sculpture? Could there be reasons other than portraying a natural movement of the animal for attaching the head of the horse to the body mass between the legs? Why do you think the artist made the decision to attach all the parts to the base?

Elementary Activities

• Aesthetics - Collect pictures of horses bucking, galloping, grazing, and so on. On a bulletin board create several columns, labeling them "quiet," "active," "scary," "beautiful," "ugly," etc. Distribute the pictures among students, allowing them to take turns placing their image in the section they feel has the most appropriate label. Discuss whether the pictures in each section belong there, what they have in common, and why certain images seem to affect different people in different ways.
• Art Criticism - Present students with a worksheet containing the letters of the alphabet. In small groups, encourage them to find things in Vaquero beginning with different letters of the alphabet (a-ankle, b-blue, c-chaps, etc.). Allow this search to go on for an extended time. As a large group, discuss the value of looking closely at a work of art.
• Art History - Introduce students to the meaning of the Spanish word vaquero. Present information about the history of cowboys from various American cultures. Make a bulletin board with a large map of the United States and Mexico. Have students draw pictures of these different types of cowboys, cut them out, and pin them on the map in the areas where these cowboys were active. Using different colors, draw and place cowboys in areas where they are most active today.
• Production - With Plasticine, students create a four-legged animal. After demonstrating such techniques as pinching, poking, pulling, and coiling, challenge students to find a way to make the animal stand on four legs, then on two legs. Remind them that they can use extra Plasticine for a base. If the animal falls, suggest creating an animal that is resting. Generate a list of possible reasons why some forms stand and others do not.

Middle School Discussion Questions

• Aesthetics - What does this sculpture appear to be made of? (Some observers think it is made out of glass or glazed ceramic.) Does it look breakable? Why or why not? Do you respond differently when you learn that it is made of fiberglass? Name other things made of fiberglass. Are they functional or are they considered to be works of art? How do you know? Does thinking of fiberglass as an industrial material rather than a fine art material change your feelings about Vaquero?
• Art Criticism - How would you describe the surface of this sculpture? Does it make the horse created by Jiménez look like a real horse? Are the colors the same as those you would see if you were looking at a real horse? Why or why not? Is there anything about this sculpture that looks real? Give examples.
• Art History - Without a date to guide us, what clues are there about when this work was produced? What questions would we want to ask, and what topics might we want to research, to help us determine when this work was done?
• Production - List some things that an artist might take into consideration when planning an outdoor sculpture. Do you think Jiménez made good choices when selecting the materials for this piece? Why might an artist want to make such a big sculpture?

Middle School Activities

• Aesthetics - Jiménez has been quoted as saying that "in the past important icons were religious; now they are secular." Compare Vaquero and Saint Anthony of Padua as possible icons of southwestern culture. Discuss whether these works support Jiménez's statement. Challenge students to find examples that might contradict Jiménez.
• Art Criticism - Using categories such as colors, shapes, lines, textures, objects, sounds, actions, and smells, list words on the board inspired by Vaquero. Have students use these words to write an interpretative poem about Vaquero. In small groups, consider suggestions for revisions and then share poems with whole group. Discuss if and how the poems provide new insights into the work.
• Art History - Students search for examples of riders on horseback in sculptures and paintings from around the world and from different times. Remind students to record dates, artists' biographies, historical information, and any other information that might help them chronicle works from cultures that do not rely on these types of historical reference. Using photocopies of horse and rider images, develop an equestrian time line that reflects various ways of recording art history.
• Production - After demonstrating additive and subtractive sculpture techniques, discuss the evidence of both in Vaquero. Students create sculptures using both techniques, choosing from a variety of materials: wood, cardboard, found objects, wire, etc. Have each student identify a principle of organization as well as an emotional quality to express in his or her work -- for example: rhythm, repetition, and aggressiveness; formal balance and stability. Finish sculptures by spray painting.

High School Discussion Questions

• Aesthetics - Many cities and parks have monuments of figures on horseback. How is this public monument similar to and different from other equestrian monuments you have seen? How is each difference affected by the way Jiménez has executed his theme in comparison with the way another artist has? How does an artist's decisions about technique and studio production affect meaning and interpretation? Would you say Jiménez was inspired by the Mexican cowboy or that he uses the Mexican cowboy as his subject matter? Is there a difference?
• Art Criticism - Jiménez's fiberglass pieces have been described by some critics as examples of "bad taste." Other critics have praised the works as displays of "extraordinary manual skill," others as celebrations of "regional taste" and yet others as exemplary "contemporary style." How are we to make sense of these differences in critical opinion? Does saying that something is "a celebration of regional taste" mean only that the critic doesn't like it? What other possible meanings do these descriptions lend to a work of art?
• Art History - Which more accurately reflects the time in which Jiménez constructed Vaquero: the subject matter, the medium, the artist's biography? Why or why not? Is there any significance to this sculpture of a cowboy of Mexican origins in the capital of the United States? Does that significance change when Vaquero is displayed in the center of the barrio in Houston, Texas?
• Production - Does this sculpture seem to be planned for a specific location? Where? When creating a public sculpture, to what extent should the artist be concerned with where, when, and how that piece will be displayed? Should these concerns affect decisions about choice of materials and composition?

High School Activities

• Aesthetics - Debate sites for this sculpture. Should it be relocated to the entrance of a large arena for national rodeo championships? or to the U.S.-Mexico border? on the U.S. side or on the Mexican side? How much does placement affect Vaquero's function as inspiration, greeting, history lesson, or lesson in studio technique? Assign students to roles such as politician, educator, or rancher. Discuss the aesthetic issues that arise from assuming different roles.
• Art Criticism - Students examine Vaquero to find evidence that supports or contradicts interpretations of the piece: 1) it shows the true origin of the cowboy, because it shows his ethnicity; 2) it is about strength and power, because the rider controls the horse; 3) it is about cooperation, because the cowboy and horse are working together. Students should speculate about other meanings and support them with evidence. Reflecting upon all of these images, have them write a final summary of Vaquero.
• Art History - Many cities have equestrian sculptures; perhaps there are some in your own area. Try to find visuals of some of these public monuments (contact the local Department of Cultural Affairs); take snapshots or have students do line drawings. As students share their images, allow them to draw conclusions about who is represented, how they are depicted, and any themes common to these works other than the fact that they are all equestrian.
• Production - Discuss Jiménez's intent to enrich the popular notion of the American cowboy. Ask students to identify past events that may have become distorted by time alone, popularized by myth, or romanticized by poem, song, or film. Using clay, have students create a sculpture representing the "truth" about an old story in a new way.

Ordering Information

This material originally appeared in Multicultural Art Print Series: Mexican-American Art, © 1994, the J. Paul Getty Trust.

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