Thoughts from Hector Duarte

Not three days after I walked away from my conversation with Sam Kirk feeling inspired and grateful and like I couldn’t get any luckier, the universe decided to drop another opportunity right in my lap. On Friday, October 22 I got a text message from my teacher, Mary, that said that Hector Duarte, a very well-known Chicago muralist, was opening his studio to the public for a night. What’s more is his studio is about three blocks away from my apartment. With a newfound faith in serendipity, my friend Karla and I were out the door to go meet this incredible artist and maybe get the chance to talk to him if he was willing.

My first exposure to Hector’s work was on our mural tour earlier in the semester. Along with Sam Kirk’s piece, Weaving Cultures, Hector’s piece, Gulliver in Wonderland, was my favorite. This piece is painted on the outside of Hector’s studio in Pilsen, pictured below.

This mural talks about the experience and struggles of Mexican immigrants who come to America seeking a better life. The figure, Gulliver, is chained down by barbed wire on top of a corn field, speaking to themes of freedom and identity for immigrants.

Hector was born in Caurio, Michoacan, Mexico in 1952. In 1977 Hector studied muralism under the teachings of David Alfaro Siqueiros, learning styles such as “dynamic symmetry”, which is when the artist incorporates the structure that one is painting on into the mural itself. You can see this style in the Gulliver piece, as the brick that makes up the entry of the studio is incorporated into the brick house that is painted on the mural. Hector’s work reflects his Latin American heritage, using bright colors and symbols such as corn and the heart that hold significance for Latin American artists and people in general.

Hector moved to Chicago in 1985 and has since participated in the creation of over 45 murals throughout the city. I believe that Hector is a very important link between Mexican muralism and the mural movement in Chicago. He has spent a lot of his time working with young artists and passing along techniques and styles of David Alfaro Siqueiros so that these traditions can continue in the years to come.

Needless to say, it was a complete honor to meet Hector and chat with him. As Karla and I entered his studio, we saw artwork plastered on all walls of the studio, including an enormous canvas that consisted of the piece he was currently working on. It was a piece commissioned by a family psychiatric ward in the city, pictured below.

We milled through the room and marveled over his work, until I finally mustered the courage to ask him some questions. I wanted to hear what he thought about the gentrification that Pilsen is currently undergoing and how this might affect the murals that are in the neighborhood. To my slight surprise, Hector didn’t seemed to outraged or concerned about the changes going on in the community (rent rising, pushing out long-standing community members and encouraging new members of a higher socio-economic status to move in), saying that this was a natural process. He did say that he thought it was the new people’s job to preserve the murals that exist here, and that wherever the Mexican-American people go is where the murals will be as well. I found this really interesting--it almost made it seem like murals are just an extension of the Mexican-American community.

Hector explained how it is so important to have murals in minority communities because the young people need to see them and know their own culture and where they come from; something they might not necessarily learn about in school or from textbooks. He also spoke about how murals allow working class people to enjoy artwork, not just those who have the privilege of going to museums. Both Hector and Sam touched on this aspect of accessibility that murals offer that mainstream art work doesn’t.

Hector also commented on the new generation of muralists and how he has noticed they have a more realistic style as to his more abstract or surreal techniques. He also talked about the use of spray paint as a tool of this younger generation, as it was not popular among his generation.

It’s so valuable to have the perspective of Sam, a younger artist who is new to the mural scene, as well as Hector who contributed immensely to the Chicago community mural movement in the late 20th century. While their work talks about similar things--celebration of culture and identity--their work reflects very different social contexts. Hector’s work talks a lot about the immigrant struggle, which was a relevant sociopolitical issue of his generation, whereas Sam Kirk’s work talks about centering women’s narratives and bringing the LGBTQ+ community into the conversation, which is a relevant social issue for this current generation. The identities of each artist is also hugely reflected in their work. Being an immigrant himself, Hector’s work speaks to this personal experience that is shared by a multitude of others. Similarly, Sam’s work talks about narratives of queer women of color, because those are identities that she holds.

I was absolutely thrilled to chat with Hector about his opinions and perspectives. Getting to know both Hector and Sam as community members and artists provided me with a great context to take with me on my explorations. Each mural I looked at became more than a painting on a wall, but an expression of an artist’s and a community’s identity and experience.

Sources:

http://www.chicagopublicartgroup.org/hector-duarte/