Death of Rubén Salazar

Object Details

Gallery Label: In this painting, Frank Romero interprets the death and legacy of Rubén Salazar, a civil rights activist and writer for the Los Angeles Times in the 1960s. In the aftermath of a major Chicano protest in East LA in 1970 against the Vietnam War, police fired tear-gas canisters into the Silver Dollar Bar and Café, where Salazar and two others were struck and killed.; Romero combined the large scale of Mexican Revolution murals with the bold colors of the barrio (the Spanish-speaking neighborhood). He depicts authoritarian force muscling in on lowrider culture, using symbols and hues that embody its vibrance and resilience.; To the left of the café, the Casa de Cambio, a money exchange, also suggests the idea of change in the community. To the right, a movie theater marquee announces a film based on Salazar's death, envisioning a world in which the event is enshrined in history.
Luce Object Quote: “In my studio I have to deal with my own devils, and I wrestle with my own concerns and dreams and fears.” Frank Romero, Oral History interview, 1997, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Credit Line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Copyright: © 1986, Frank Romero

1986

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Topic: Cityscape; Architecture\vehicle\automobile; Occupation\service\policeman; State of being\death\murder; Architecture Exterior\commercial\tavern; Architecture Exterior\civic\theater

GUID (Link to Original Record): http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7ce87730c-0432-430e-bcac-3213cab3f0ac