Gilbert "Magu" Lujan
Returning to Aztlan, 1983
Serigraph, Edition 16 of 200
26 x 38 in.

Returning to Aztlan (1983), an historic serigraph, is an intricately detailed map of Latin America. It includes animals, ancient structures, foliage, and two indigenous men driving a lowrider car, and speaks to the Chicano artist's preference for Latin traditions over Eurocentric aesthetic standards. Characteristically, Lujan is quoted saying: "Most people have a very stereotypic view and even to call us Hispanics makes me understand that they're not looking at me. That mold has never left the consciousness of English-speaking people, especially the Anglo."

One of the most iconic figures of the Chicano art movement and a founding member of the artists collective "Los Four," Gilbert "Magu" Lujan is known for his coloration and visual explorations of Chicano culture and community that drew upon and brought to life various historic and contemporary visual sources with startling results: pyramid-mounted lowriders driven by anthropomorphic creatures traversing a newly defined and mythologized LA. He was part of a small group of dedicated artists and intellectuals who set about defining a Chicano identity and culture as part of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Lujan produced ambitious public art projects such as the Hollywood & Vine Metro station and exhibited prolifically in galleries and museums within the United States and abroad.