Latinos Organizing for Understanding and Development (LOUD) has a new gallery space on Madison’s East Side as it continues its mission to provide spaces and opportunities for artists of color.
The new space is located at Next Wave Studios, 4713 Helgesen Dr. Next Wave has two warehouse-style buildings and boasts the largest infinity wall and the biggest photography and video studio space in Dane County. The new space for LOUD is intended to be a long-term venue for the organization, as its founder, Oscar Mireles, aims to increase its outreach across the country to invite artists to exhibit their works in Madison.
“It’s a continuation of what we’ve been trying to do: present Latino art, but in its finest form, museum-quality work, and pair up with local artists,” Mireles said.
Mireles, who is technically retired, has not slowed down with LOUD’s mission. He’s organized multiple venues and studio space for artists in Wisconsin at the Common Wealth Gallery and Omega School — from where he retired after 30 years.
The first artists featured at LOUD’s new gallery space is Oaxaca City, Mexico’s Lapiztola. The artists are a collective founded by Roberto Vega, Rosario Martinez and Yankel Balderas. Their name comes from combining the words “lapiz” and “pistola” — meaning “pencil” and “pistol” in English. Lapiztola now only consists of Vega and Martinez.
The trio founded Lapiztola in the wake of the 2006 political revolution in Oaxaca City. At that time, a teacher on strike protested cuts to education and the arrest of union leaders. A police raid on a teachers’ encampment on June 14, 2006, led to widespread outrage; Lapiztola had many relatives and friends who were teachers at the time.
Street art in protest found a strong prominence during that time. Art typically seen, such as graffiti, stencils, prints and murals, called out issues in Indigenous rights, political prisoners, racism and social justice.
Lapiztola’s art is grounded in that movement. They create collage-style art pieces with imagery of birds and children. They describe themselves as a “collective of urban graphic artists” as they work digitally to create stencils and then print them onto canvases.
“Birds, they symbolize there’s no border. Birds don’t recognize borders. And then the youth represents the future,” Mireles said.
Mireles isn’t just giving them a space in the gallery, but bringing a full artistic experience for artists.
He brought Lapiztola to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) to see some rare prints. They checked out works by Frida Kahlo, Jose Posada and Diego Rivera. Posada, who is credited as the major influence of the Chicano Art Movement, and Rivera, who helped establish the mural movement in Mexico through his frescoes, presented an opportunity to see the history of Lapiztola’s style of art.
“Even though, when they went to university, the images are familiar, but they didn’t realize it was like a postcard size,” Mireles said. “When they saw the prints from the museum, it was inspiring. They said, ‘To see all these masters [Diego Rivera, Jose Posada, Siqueros] … to see them all next to each other, I never imagined that in my lifetime.’”
Lapiztola’s residency at LOUD ended Oct. 2, but their work remains up through most of the month. Their art will be in a new spot, not yet disclosed, for Madison’s annual gallery night on Nov. 7.
