Rethinking Lowrider Artistic Representations
An Aesthetic Response to Social Exclusion
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11230373 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alejandro Gradilla (Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA), Juan Jose Bustamante (0000-0002-6910-6925, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 403-421 |
| Publication date | 2020-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Humanity & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0160-5976 • E-ISSN: 2372-9708 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0160597620932884 |
| OpenAlex | W3036646036 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 16 |
This article examines the narrative and visual construct of the lowrider vehicle as part of the barrio aesthetic. The central argument is that the display of lowrider art can be better understood as an artistic community mechanism of resistance used to contest cultural exclusion from white art spaces. The principles of Gloria Anzaldúa’s borderlands theory provide exceptional insights into the analyses of aesthetic lowrider displays from the margins. We use this approach to theoretically frame lowriders’ artistic representations as a Chicana/o identity effort to build contemporary cultural spaces for themselves. This study employs a qualitative triangulation method that includes participant observations, photo documentation, and six semi-structured interviews. Between December 2006 and September 2007, data were collected from the cities of Lansing and South Haven as well as from two lowrider car shows in the state of Michigan. This study found that lowrider art works as a source of stability and structure for Chicana/o young adults who live on the margins of society. For young adults isolated from mainstream cultural spaces by the essentialist interpretations of art, the lowrider aesthetic represents an identity–resiliency component introduced through family and friends—consciously or unconsciously—to resist cultural oppression
Aesthetics · Argument (complex analysis · Art · CONTEST · Essentialism · Identity (music · Literature · Mainstream · Narrative · Oppression · Political science · Politics · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · Visual arts · Gender Studies · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
Who Are We?
History, Culture and Society
Borderlands/La Frontera
Whiteness and culture
Barrio art
In Conflict and Order
The New Second Generation
New Technology in Sociology
Qualitative research methods for the social sciences
Photography and Sociology
Migraciones internacionales
Fast Cars, Cool Rides
Heart like a Car
The Culture of White Space, the Racialized Production of Meaning, and the Jamband Scene
WhiteSpace, Brown Place
| Highly cited | No |
|---|