CHICAGO
Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the third-most populous city in the United States, following New York City and Los Angeles. With a population of 2,746,388 in the 2020 census, it is also the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the fifth-most populous city in North America. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, the second-most populous county in the U.S., while a small portion of the city's O'Hare Airport also extends into DuPage County. Chicago is the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, defined as either the U.S. Census Bureau's metropolitan statistical area (9.6 million people) or the combined statistical area (almost 10 million residents), often called Chicagoland. It is one of the 40 largest urban areas in the world.
Located on the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan, Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed and grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, the city rebuilt. The construction boom accelerated population growth throughout the following decades, and by 1900, less than 30 years after the great fire, Chicago was the fifth-largest city in the world. Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and zoning standards, including new construction styles (including the Chicago School of architecture), the development of the City Beautiful Movement, and the steel-framed skyscraper.
Chicago is an international hub for finance, culture, commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. It is the site of the creation of the first standardized futures contracts, issued by the Chicago Board of Trade, which today is part of the largest and most diverse derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone. O'Hare International Airport is routinely ranked among the world's top six busiest airports according to tracked data by the Airports Council International. The region also has the largest number of federal highways and is the nation's railroad hub. The Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) in the world, generating $689 billion in 2018. The economy of Chicago is diverse, with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. It is home to several Fortune 500 companies, including Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, Allstate, Archer Daniels Midland, Boeing, Caterpillar, Conagra Brands, Exelon, JLL, Kraft Heinz, McDonald's, Mondelez International, Motorola Solutions, Sears, United Airlines Holdings, US Foods, and Walgreens.
Chicago's 58 million tourist visitors in 2018 set a new record, and Chicago has been voted the best large city in the U.S. for four years in a row by Condé Nast Traveler. The city was ranked first in the 2018 Time Out City Life Index, a global urban quality of life survey of 15,000 people in 32 cities, and was rated second-most beautiful city in the world (after Prague) in 2021. Landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis (Sears) Tower, Grant Park, the Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicago is also home to the Barack Obama Presidential Center being built in Hyde Park on the city's South Side. Chicago's culture includes the visual arts, literature, film, theatre, comedy (especially improvisational comedy), food, and music, particularly jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, gospel, and electronic dance music including house music. Of the area's many colleges and universities, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago are classified as "highest research" doctoral universities. Chicago has professional sports teams in each of the major professional leagues, including two Major League Baseball teams.
MEXICAN AMERICANS
Mexican Americans (Spanish: mexicano-estadounidenses or estadounidenses de origen mexicano) are Americans of Mexican ancestry. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United States, though they make up 53% of the total population of foreign-born Latino Americans and 25% of the total foreign-born population. The United States is home to the second-largest Mexican community in the world (24% of the entire Mexican-origin population of the world), second only to Mexico itself. Most Mexican Americans reside in the Southwest (over 60% in the states of California and Texas). Many Mexican Americans[quantify] living in the United States have assimilated into US culture which has made some become less connected with their culture of birth (or of their parents) and sometimes creates an identity crisis.
PILSEN'S MURALS
West Cullerton Street Mural
For the Mexican Americans and the Chicanos, Pilsen is the heart of their history and culture. The walls of the neighbourhood are stained with their version of reality. Namely, Schagemann points out that in Pilsen there are “more than 200 murals in Pilsen on Chicago’s southwest side, a community known for its Mexican-American heritage dating to the 1950s.” The paint strokes and the vibrant colours vocalize the issues of race and segregation and are there to remind everyone the endeavour of immigration and assimilation. These murals emphasize the polyphony and the multi-culturalism of Pilsen’s community.
Hector Duarte’s Gulliver in Wonderland is “depiction of the immigrant assimilation process and the difficulty of integrating into U.S. culture” (Kemp 2019) through the artistic details including the vivid colours and vigorous patterns. Teubner characterises “Duarte’s style [as] expressionistic and frenetic with [b]old black lines outline broad areas of mosaic-like patches of brilliant color” (2013) Notably, the name “Gulliver” alludes to the satirical piece of Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and the Englishman voyager. In other words, Duarte in his mural mirrors through a satirical manner the immigrants endeavour with the definition of “Gulliver”. The satirical element is amplified by the usage of the light grey almost white wires. It can be stated that Duarte at this point points out the façade of the USA and the American dream “and its false promise, as does the midwestern-style house behind the immigrant” (Kemp 2019); many Chicanos migrate to the States for hopes of a better life yet many of the are caged by the limitations posed by the Whites which are illustrated the wires. Additionally, Kemp (2019) pinpoints “the literal division between the U.S. and Mexico and the cultural division between immigrants and non-immigrants”. The “Gulliver” attempts to rise above the stereotypes assigned by the white society which portray them as uneducated drunks and gangsters. In the process of assimilation, the “Gulliver” adopts the baseball hat, an illustrative trait of the locals. Yet, the white mask, called “Día de Los Muertos”, covering almost all his face making him unrecognisable is a characteristic of his cultural background which further highlights “the anonymity of immigrants” (Kemp 2019). The mural is constructed with “fluid” and “thick sweeping brushstrokes” which not only “create an energized surface” (Teubner 2013), but also accentuate its diachronicity given the current struggles of Mexican Americans and Chicanos against the status quo.
Jeff Zimmerman’s Increíbles Las Cosas Q’ Se Ven is a “transformative” and colourful “urban triptych on the side of a Pilsen apartment building” (Teubner 2013) as it depicts the Mexicans’ passage, both literal and metaphorical, and confront “racism, discrimination and gentrification” (Teubner 2013). The iconography “Our Lady of Guadalupe”, a manifestation of the spirituality of the Mexican culture is a reminder of the hope one has while migrating. Below her there is “[t]he monochromatic portrait of a man behind the chain-link fence” alludes to “a resident of Pilsen” and “[t]he chain-link fence” stands for the “physical and social division” identical to “the barbed wire in Duarte’s Gulliver in Wonderland” (Teubner 2013). The middle section of the mural depicts the immigrants’ harsh reality in the United States of becoming workers with very small income and limited opportunities to rise above their poverty. The “photorealist portraits” belong to the residents of the neighbourhood which amplify the “Chicano values” and the “cohesive community identity”. (Teubner 2013) In the left part of the mural, Zimmerman’s “trademark style mixes pops of color with interwoven text” highlights that even with limited access to means one can succeed. Namely, Zimmerman by including motivational phrase “si, se puede”, which has been employed for many rallies, foregrounds the fact you can rise above any hardship if you persevere and own your place, thus rights.
Jeff Maldonado’s The J-Def Peace Project is a reminder of what can happen to the innocent due to the violence produced by the local gangs. Maldonado due to his son’s death, he founded “The J-Def Peace Project” an organisation as an artistic outlet “to develop skills in painting, drawing, and mosaics” (Pupovac) for the younger generation. The included mural is one of many of the creations this project has managed. A colourful “wall with mosaic tiles” with Jeff Jr’s “portrait” being the central piece “surrounded by glimmering bits of mirrors” (Pupovac). The mic alludes to Jeff Jr passion about music and his endeavour to help people by uniting them as to minimise the rate of criminality. The yellow can be interpreted as the sun or a bright light which further suggests how Jeff Jr has tried to shed light to everyone’s life by motivating them for instance to continue their educational path. Once again, the vitality of education and the limitations of the Mexican Americans are evident. Pilsen is not just an idealised neighbourhood where immigrants can fulfil their American dream; it’s full of gangs and violent incidents which scar its streets. Maldonado’s piece is an initiative which vocalizes the unheard cries of the innocent and reminds the public of the dangers. Through this tragic event Maldonado foregrounds how Pilsen’s Street art are the heart of the neighbourhood.
CONCLUSION
The street art found in Pilsen is the beating heart of the Mexican culture. Duarte’s and Zimmerman’s murals are the point of reference for the immigrational background as well as for the difficulties of being forced to assimilate. The racist behaviour including foremost gentrification are evident by the force adopting the cultural traditions of the country they have migrated into. However, their new home is not a secured haven as it is illustrated through Maldonado’s mural. In fact, the limited chances to education give rise to gang violence, and in most cases the innocent are hurt as it happened with Jeff Jr. Yet through the murals the communal character of Pilsen is amplified.
WORKS CITED
Delgado, Melvin, and Keva Barton. “Murals in Latino Communities: Social Indicators of Community Strengths.” Social Work, vol. 43, no. 4, Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 346–56, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23718686.
Duarte, Hector. Gulliver in Wonderland. 2005.
Gale, Amiria. “How To Analyze an Artwork: a Step-By-Step Guide”. STUDENT ART GUIDE, 2021, https://www.studentartguide.com/articles/how-to-analyze-an-artwork. Accessed 21 Dec 2021.
“Gulliver.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Gulliver. Accessed 26 Dec. 2021.
Maldonado, Jeff. The J-Def Peace Project. 2009.
Kemp, Susanna. Gulliver In Wonderland - Clio. Clio, 2019, https://theclio.com/entry/81497. Accessed 21 Dec 2021.
Pupovac, Jessica. Jeff Maldonado. WTTW Chicago, https://interactive.wttw.com/my-neighborhood/pilsen/jeff-maldonado. Accessed 21 Dec 2021.
Teubner, Nina. (2013, May). “Made You Look: Chicano Experience, Graphic Identity and Agency in Pilsen Murals”. Theses and Dissertations. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Willis, Sarah C. Artistic Expressions Amidst Gentrification: Reclaiming Identity and Authenticity in Gentrified Public Spaces, Roosevelt University, Ann Arbor, 2016. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/artistic-expressions-amidst-gentrification/docview/1858146548/se-2?accountid=8359.
Zimmerman, Jeff. Increíbles Las Cosas Q’ Se Ven. 2001.