Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Maravilla Housing Project, Mednik Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue, East Los Angeles

Oscar R. Castillo, Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Maravilla Housing Project, Mednik Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue, East Los Angeles, early 1970s, printed 2012, inkjet print, image: 14 x 20 in. (35.5 x 50.8 cm) sheet: 17 x 22 in. (43.2 x 55.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.51.3, © 2012, Oscar R. Castillo

Artwork Details

Title: Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Maravilla Housing Project, Mednik Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue, East Los Angeles
Artist: Oscar R. Castillo
Date: early 1970s, printed 2012
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: image: 14 x 20 in. (35.5 x 50.8 cm) sheet: 17 x 22 in. (43.2 x 55.9 cm)
Copyright: © 2012, Oscar R. Castillo
Credit Line: Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description: inkjet print
Classifications: Photography
Photoprint
Subjects: Cityscape — California — Los Angeles
Monument — religious — shrine
Religion — New Testament — Mary
Religion — Christianity
Object Number: 2013.51.3
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2013.51.3

Artwork Description

Oscar Castillo's photograph of the ruins of the Maravilla Housing project casts murals as miraculous apparitions that suggest hope rising from destruction. Castillo documents two murals by David Lopez that had become a popular community shrine. The murals were so valued by local residents that they were saved during the demolition and reinstalled at another site. The artist's detailed title, which identifies the cross streets where the original shrine was located, conveys his intent to record a community memory.

Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography, 2017

La fotografía de Oscar Castillo de las ruinas de la vivienda pública Maravilla presenta los murales como apariciones milagrosas que sugieren la esperanza que nace de la destrucción. Castillo documenta dos murales de David López que se habían convertido en un conocido santuario de la comunidad. Los murales eran tan valorados por los residentes que fueron rescatados durante la demolición y reinstalados en otro sitio. El título tan detallado del artista, que identifica el cruce de las calles donde se encontraba originalmente el santuario, transmite la intención de conservar un recuerdo communitario.

Por estas calles bravas: Comunidad y lugar en la fotografía urbana, 2017

Works by this artist (20 items)

View all artworks

Seed Time and Harvest

Artist

Grant Wood

Date1937

lithograph on paper

January

Artist

Grant Wood

Date1938

lithograph on paper

Honorary Degree

Artist

Grant Wood

Date1938

lithograph on paper

Untitled, from suite “Savage Iowa” (Indian and Cowboy)

Artist

Grant Wood

Date1923

pencil and wash on paper

Exhibitions

Photograph of children playing in the water from a fire hydrant by Hiram Maristany

Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography

May 11, 2017–August 5, 2017

Smithsonian American Art Museum

America’s urban streets have long inspired documentary photographers. After World War II, populations shifted from the city to the suburbs and newly built highways cut through thriving neighborhoods, leaving isolated pockets within major urban centers.