Desire Lines, Baboquivari Peak, AZ

Delilah Montoya, Desire Lines, Baboquivari Peak, AZ, 2004, printed 2008, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Gilberto Cardenas Latino Art Collection, 2011.52.1, © 2004, Delilah Montoya
Copied Delilah Montoya, Desire Lines, Baboquivari Peak, AZ, 2004, printed 2008, inkjet print, image: 12 3⁄4 x 47 1⁄2 in. (32.4 x 120.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Gilberto Cardenas Latino Art Collection, 2011.52.1, © 2004, Delilah Montoya

Artwork Details

Title
Desire Lines, Baboquivari Peak, AZ
Artist
Date
2004, printed 2008
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
image: 12 3⁄4 x 47 1⁄2 in. (32.4 x 120.7 cm)
Copyright
© 2004, Delilah Montoya
Credit Line
Gift of the Gilberto Cardenas Latino Art Collection
Mediums Description
inkjet print
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — desert
  • Landscape — Arizona
  • Landscape — mountain — Baboquivari Peak
Object Number
2011.52.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2011.52.1

Artwork Description

Delilah Montoya's work focuses on the rich and complex histories of the landscape and communities of the borderlands between Mexico and the United States. Desire Lines: Baboquivari Peak, AZ shows the Tohono O'odham Reservation, which straddles the border of Arizona and the Sonora region of Mexico. The mountains seen in the distance are the site of the Tohono O'odham creation story. In having to travel between these regions, the people of the O'odham community become both migrants and natives within their own ancestral homeland. Scattered throughout the landscape are water jugs, placed along the reservation border to provide water to migrants on their journey. Montoya explicitly rejects the doctrine of Manifest Destiny and the misconception that these lands were unexplored terrain prior to the invasion of white settlers and the creation of borders between two nations.

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Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art explores how Latino artists shaped the artistic movements of their day and recalibrated key themes in American art and culture. This beautifully illustrated volume 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. Our America includes works by artists who participated in all the various artistic styles and movements, including abstract expressionism; activist, conceptual, and performance art; and classic American genres such as landscape, portraiture, and scenes of everyday life. 

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