Enrique Chagoya (American, born Mexico, 1953) is an internationally recognized printmaker who teaches at Stanford University in California. Organized by director John Olbrantz, the exhibition features a range of Chagoya’s deceptively subversive prints that explore issues of immigration, colonialism, the economy, the government, the commodification of art, and the recurring subject of cultural clash that continues to riddle contemporary life.
Chagoya’s provocative works incorporate diverse symbolic elements from Pre-Columbian mythology, Western religious iconography, and American pop culture. He has frequently used his prints and codices to critique how history has been written by cultures that have colonized or obliterated others. Chagoya has termed this “reverse anthropology,” and he uses complex visual and textual narratives to reexamine traditional accounts about culture and inheritance.