Jesse Amado American, b. 1951

One of the pioneers of working with Latino identity politics in a conceptual manner, Amado’s artwork is found in the collections of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington D.C.; El Museo Del Barrio, New York, NY; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, among others. “I am not your Mexican #5” is a mix-media artwork made from le Corbusier acrylic on canvas with elements of wood, chicharrón (pork rind), and felt.

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. Instead, "I am not your Mexican: Rhapsody in Blue, Gazing north beyond the broken fence," compels us to reconsider the art historical canon for the twenty-first century. 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.