Man on Fire

Jiménez’s Man on Fire recasts an iconic Native American in contemporary terms. Employing a pop art style of slick, hot-rod surfaces, the artist conflated references to Cuauhtémoc, the Aztec ruler tortured by fire during the Spanish conquest, and Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist monk who set himself ablaze in protest against the Vietnam War. For Jiménez, the monk’s act resonated with the rising antiwar sentiment in many Latino communities. Jiménez’s brown figure — which was also a self-portrait — also asserts the Native identity of the Chicanos and the community’s roots in the Southwest prior to 1848.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013