Jesse Amado American, b. 1951

Jesse Amado’s artwork remarks on issues of identity and representation in the history of art. The title immediately calls attention to the artist’s Mexican heritage and parallels that of the film “I Am Not Your Negro” (2016). The movie, based on James Baldwin’s writing, offers a history of the systematic marginalization of Black American historical figures and events through their misrepresentation (or under-representation) in mainstream historical narratives. Thus, the title’s reference serves as an entry point to understand art that may at first appear to be highly conceptual or purely abstract. The work is particularly important for its innovative use of chicharrón, which is a highly-charged food product with both cultural and social-economic commentary.