We are very pleased to announce the series Studies on Latin American and Latinx Art, an expansion of our critically successful book series Studies on Latin American Art. This series has been developed through the generous support of the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA). Jennifer A. González will join Alexander Alberro as new co-editor for the series.
Editors Alberro and González note, “The expansion of the series to include Latinx art follows logically from its initial focus, which encompassed studies of art history and cultural practices emerging from Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, as well as that created in diaspora in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. By highlighting the interest in Latinx art in the series’ title, the editors aim to bring the proliferation of scholarship on Latinx art into greater dialogue with Latin American art history, but also to highlight the ways that it has unique concerns. From the beginning, the series has been attentive to art historical studies that address diaspora, cultural identity, and hybridity. The expansion will give greater prominence to the art produced by a growing demographic, revealing similarities and differences among Latin American cultures and expanding the art historical canon in productive ways.”
Q & A with editors Alexander Alberro & Jennifer A. González
Could you provide some insight into the significance of the term “Latinx” and its role in this series?
In recent years, the term “Latinx” has become a productive gender-neutral term that encompasses many diaspora communities and cultural practices in the U.S. It shares the benefits and pitfalls of all umbrella concepts used to organize, name and delimit difference. However, for our purposes it signals an opening to new possibilities of participation, intellectual intersection, and collaboration in the series.
Can you elaborate on the thematic areas and types of publications we can expect to see in this series?
We will continue to develop a list on art history and cultural practices emerging from Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the Latin American diaspora, and now will also include Latinx art in the U.S., in the 20th and 21st centuries. Our books will still focus on art history, exhibition history, investigations of the relation between the art and social context of specific nations, comparative analyses of different cultural traditions and milieus, in-depth monographic examinations of important artists or artistic collectives, and interdisciplinary works that bridge the fields of art history, media studies, architecture, literature, film, anthropology, and cultural criticism.
What can we expect in the future for the “Studies on Latin American and Latinx Art” series?
High quality books that will shape future scholarship in the field, address heretofore under-examined histories, develop innovative methodological approaches, and promote rigorous research.
Can you tell us more about the goals of the “Studies on Latin American and Latinx Art” series?
The series’ primary goal is to provide a dedicated venue for book-length publications on Latin American and Latinx art. Ariel Aisiks, founder of ISLAA, recognized the general lacuna in the discipline of art history and pitched the idea of the series to the University of California Press in 2017. The series began with an exclusive focus on Latin American and Caribbean art history but is now expanding to include the growing field of Latinx art. The editors hope that the series’ expansion will also enrich historical and intellectual discussions among artists, curators and scholars
Browse books in the Studies on Latin American and Latinx Art series.
