Breakfast Tacos, from the series Seven Days

Media - 2013.14 - SAAM-2013.14_1 - 86673
Copied Chuck Ramirez, Breakfast Tacos, from the series Seven Days, 2003, printed 2012, inkjet print, sheet and image: 48 x 60 in. (121.9 x 152.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.14, © 2003, Estate of Charles Ramirez

Artwork Details

Title
Breakfast Tacos, from the series Seven Days
Artist
Date
2003, printed 2012
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet and image: 48 x 60 in. (121.9 x 152.4 cm)
Copyright
© 2003, Estate of Charles Ramirez
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
inkjet print
Classifications
Highlights
Keywords
  • Still life — furniture — table
  • Still life — foodstuff — taco
Object Number
2013.14
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2013.14

Artwork Description

Wilting flowers, glistening aluminum foil holding half-eaten breakfast tacos, cups of coffee, and two local and national beer standards – Lone Star (the “national” beer of Texas) and Miller Lite – all populate Ramirez’s contemporary still life. Ramirez magnified the stuff of everyday life to reveal the history often embedded in popular icons. The Lone Star flag transitioned from national flag (of the Republic of Texas) to beloved state symbol. Miller Beer’s German roots are now little known, yet Mexican-derived foods like tacos are marketed as coming from across the border, despite being staples of the American diet.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013
Description in Spanish

Flores marchitas, papel de aluminio reluciente que envuelve tacos para el desayuno a medio comer, tazas de café, y dos cervezas emblemáticas, una local y otra nacional —Lone Star (la ​“cerveza nacional” de Texas) y Miller Lite— pueblan la naturaleza muerta contemporánea de Ramirez. Ramirez monumentaliza lo cotidiano para revelar la historia detrás de los íconos populares. La bandera de una estrella pasó de ser una bandera nacional (de la República de Texas) a un amado símbolo estatal. Hoy en día son poco conocidas las raíces alemanas de la cerveza Miller; sin embargo, la comida de origen mexicano como los tacos se venden como si vinieran del otro lado de la frontera, a pesar de ser platos básicos de la dieta estadounidense.

Nuestra América: la presencia latina en el arte estadounidense, 2013 
 

Videos

Exhibitions

Media - 2011.12 - SAAM-2011.12_1 - 77591
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
October 24, 2013–March 2, 2014
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge.