Cristo en el Valle

Since 300 AD, Christian iconography has held a heavy prevalence and relevance, from Jesus himself to the Virgin Mary; the body of Christ is a subject often explored in Art History. With the use of Christian ideals as a means for bigotry and anti-intellectualism in the current socio-political climate, we must look at how history tends to repeat itself. With the colonization, revolution, recolonization, assimilation, and neocolonization of the South Texas Borderlands, I look into how the iconography and symbols of Christianity prevail and act as forms of resistance and community after multiple forms of displacement and destruction. This presentation analyzes the art of Border Artists of the Rio Grande Valley to explore border narratives in religious and art historical contexts. How does a community often relegated to border sensationalism and national neglect use the Christ figure and La Virgen to reclaim and rewrite ideas of ‘[thy] neighbor,’ whilst maintaining community?