What Do We Mean When We Talk About ‘Latino Art’?

By Elizabeth Blair, NPR

When the Whitney Museum of American Art announced the artists for its 2014 biennial, people took to the Internet to chime in about who’s been included and who’s been left out; the last biennial had been blasted for ignoring Latino artists. But when a new show opened at the Smithsonian American Art Museum featuring onlyLatino artists — “Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art” — it was blasted for other reasons.

“Meaningless,” wrote critic Philip Kennicott in The Washington Post. In a review of the Smithsonian show, Kennicott was referring to the label “Latino art.” (Yes, his word choice ticked off a lot of people, but more on that shortly.) Kennicott’s point was that by grouping art by ethnicity, throwing together works by artists of different styles, periods and backgrounds, “you get a big mess.”

Speaking to NPR, Kennicott defended his critique of the Smithsonian show:

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum]

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