More XicanOsmosis | The Date Farmers

The Date Farmers are "Carlos Ramirez and Armando Lerma of Coachella Valley... [their] collaborative art, collage drawings, and words on discarded signs...is reminiscent of Mexican Revolutionary posters ala/Pancho Villa, as if Cesar Chavez is knocking on our door. Ramirez and Lerma explore the essential reality of the roots of California past and present culture. Their art depicts Mexican American religious icons and their style resembles prison art. Ramirez’s and Lerma’s lettering is strong in a low-rider tradition of bold signage. This is a show not to be missed." [source]

You can see an eye-full of their art at fecalface.com. Like Culture Clash and Gilbert Hernandez, Ramirez/Lerma's visions and nightmares fuse the semiotic miasma and riches of Mexico and the United States--not osmosis, but XicanOsmosis.

Lupe Vélez: Tales of Suicide, Stardom, Barbituates, and Mexican Food

originally posted 8/09/07 and updated 12/11/07



The essay that appears in Tex[t]-Mex on Lupe Vélez (chapter four) reappears in a slightly different form in a new collection edited by Myra Mendible that has the greatest title for a book that I have seen in a long time: From Bananas to Buttocks!!!!! The book was released in September 2007 by the University of Texas Press. More on Mendible's opus appears here. A direct link to the book at Amazon appears here.

The overweight title of my essay in her collection is: "Lupe Vélez Regurgitated: Cautionary, Indigestion-Causing Ruminations on "Mexicans" in "American" Toilets Perpetrated While Covetously Screening "Veronica". Here's a great clip [ updated Tuesday, December 11, 2007] showcasing the gifted Mexican actor's range: