La Guadalupana

In Montoya's photo installation La Guadalupana, Felix Martinez awaits trial for a drive-by shooting in Bernalillo County. The tattoo on his back is of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the savior of the Americas. The Guadalupana was the first official vision of the Virgin Mary in the Americas. She appeared to an indigenous Mesoamerican, Juan Diego, in 1531. The surrounding images of Montoya's photomural are of other tattoos of the Virgin, who functions in this form of body ornamentation both as an object of adoration and as a cultural symbol of the Chicano movement. The altar in front combines symbols for different forms and layers of American cultures.

Montoya's work addresses the complexity that has accrued to Our Lady of Guadalupe as a symbol of oppression as well as liberation.* The revelation that Christianity brought to the New World was from the beginning tempered by its association with conquest by church and state. This paradox, Montoya claimes, is perpetuated in the urban Chicano-identified life as the veneration of the Virgin as the good and the true Mother who will bless and protect. At the same time, however, the symbol serves as a cloak for a cycle of violence and poverty in the pseudo-family of the gang.

--Aline Brandauer

*[This idea of the Guadalupe as a symbol of both oppression and liberation was put forth by Jeanette Favrot Peterson in her essay The Virgin of Guadalupe: Symbol of Conquest or Liberation?. Art Journal, Vol. 51, No. 4, Latin American Art. (Winter, 1992), pp. 39-47.]


"Felix Martinez, the sitter whose back was photographed, was being held in the
detention center and awaiting trial for a drive-by shooting. Most people assume when looking at the photograph that he was a young man but in reality he was a 45-year-old 'Veterano' … a gang member who has spent most of his adult life in prison. He acquired the tattoo while incarcerated in California and then spent time in the New Mexico prison. … At the time of his release he met ex-pinta (convict) Valerie."

"Valerie and Felix married and Barbara Ann Destiny was born. They were living in
Albuquerque's south valley, in the community where their families resided and they
called home. This area is a two-block strip that is considered the heart of gang
activity."

"While on the outside Felix was constantly being watched. The APD considered him to be a habitual criminal. Being a Veterano, the younger gang members continually
approached him with their activities. According to his counselor, he was tired of the
violence and desperately wanted something better for his new family. … When a driveby shooting came down in the neighborhood, he was targeted by the police and picked up. The feeling was that he probably did not do it but as a Veterano he knew who did."

"Felix's predicament was to either protect the gang member and take the rap, which
meant serving more time, or put a halt to this 'Vida Loca.' … Felix decided to go state's evidence; but before he could testify he was smothered with a pillow. Nobody saw or heard anything. … And so the story starts all over again with a little girl left to make sense out of a world that is unsparing."

"As a promesa to the Virgin (on the condition that this photomural sold) I wanted
to do something for [the daughter] that could provide an opportunity to break this
spiraling tragedy. … With $4,000 from the mural's proceeds, I invested into a gift
[in her name]. … By the time Barbara is 18, she will have a tidy college fund. … In my estimation, by helping Barbara, 'art' has impacted and served in a very tangible way."

- Excerpted from a letter written by artist Delilah Montoya (July 27, 1999)