Early life and education
Margarita “Mita” Cuaron’s father, Ralph Cuaron immigrated to the United States in the late 1880’s from Chihuahua, Mexico. Ralph Cuaron and his family initially settled in Arizona and eventually immigrated to Los Angeles, working as day laborers in the Southwest. Margarita “Mita” Cuaron’s mother, Sylvia Cuaron and her family came from Ukraine. Traveling with several other extended family members during the pogroms in the late 19th century, Sylvia Cuaron and her family became store merchants in Brooklyn, New York, and eventually moved to Los Angeles.Activism
In 1968, Margarita Mita" Cuaron was a fifteen-year-old sophomore at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Cuaron helped organize nearly 22,000 students, mostly of Mexican-American background, who participated in the 1968 East Los Angeles, Chicanx Student Walkout demanding better teachers, smaller classes, and equal opportunity in higher education. As a result, Cuaron was arrested, suspended, and dropped out of Garfield High School.Artworks
Many of Margarita “Mita” Cuaron’s artworks were deeply inspired by Our Lady of Guadalupe and viewed the religious figure as a very strong, very empowering, spiritual figure in her life. Cuaron’s most famous pieces of Our Lady of Guadalupe are ''Virgen de la Sandía'' (1996) and ''Virgen de Guadalupe Baby'' (1992).''Virgen de Guadalupe Baby''
Margarita “Mita” Cuaron’s painting, ''Virgen de Guadalupe Baby'' (1992) depicts Our Lady of Guadalupe as a sleeping, curled-up, pale infant clutching a small, light red heart. The infant is surrounded by a blue mantle with golden sun rays that eventually becomes a womb that shelters and protects the child. White, fluffy clouds surround the infant and is supported by the recognizable winged angel usually seen at the feet of La Virgen de Guadalupe. The backdrop of the painting has a light purple setting. Portraying both ideas of birth and regrowth, Cuaron focuses on a theme of new possibilities and formations. Cuaron’s painting, ''Virgen de Guadalupe Baby'' (1992) was recreated again in 2004 through a different kind of artistic medium, as a screen print.Sanchez, Starlina. “Agency, Accessibility, and Abolition–Exploring Reproductive Justice in Art.” Self Help Graphics & Art, August 12, 2022. https://www.selfhelpgraphics.com/blog/agency-accessibility-and-abolition-exploring-reproductive-justice-in-art''Virgen de la Sandía''
Completely disrobed, Our Lady of Guadalupe is depicted as a nude woman centered in this screen print. The religious figure is surrounded by a watermelon with red, orange, yellow, and white glow. Teresa Eckmann’s analysis of Cuaron's screen print, ''Virgen de la Sandía'' (1996), in ''Chicano Artists and Neo-Mexicanists: (De) Constructions of National Identity '' describes that “Here the artist clearly makes reference to the sexual metaphor of the sandia, or watermelon, as an image of women's genitalia.”Eckmann, Teresa. “Chicano Artists and Neo-Mexicanists: (De) Constructions of National Identity,” no. 36 (2000). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1054&context=laii_research''Colores del Muerte''
This screen print (1996) portrays a smiling ''calavera,'' also known as a skull'','' with bright red lips on the right side of the print. The background of this print is made up of wavy curves of pink, red, yellow, black, and blue colors.''Birth of My Grandmother''
On December 12, 2009, the Avenue 50 Studio Inc. presented Mita’s painting, ''Birth of My Grandmother'', within the exhibition'', “Testimonies Two-Contemporary Ex Votos,”'' in Los Angeles, California. Curator, Raoul De la Sota, assembled a group of artists for a special exhibit focusing on the Mexican-rooted art form of the ex-voto, including Margarita Mita Cuaron. The text at the bottom of the painting reads: “My great-grandparents Rafael and Geromina Salcido lived in the state of Chihuahua, known as old Mexico. Rafael worked in the copper mines for long periods of time. Geromina was alone when she went into labor with her second child and climbed a mule leading to Juarez, giving birth to my grandmother Micaela, May 8, 1888.”''Dreaming''
This black, white, and gray-shaded drawing depicts a woman laying down, with her left hand across her chest, and her right hand over her head. There appears to be a red skeleton on top of the woman’s drawn image.''La Vida, Días para Nacimiento, Amor y Morir''
This watercolor painting depicts a woman’s side profile facing a variety of photographs. Some of the objects of the photographs appear to be a skull, birth, and a heart.''Pulse of Life–Bite of Death''
This watercolor painting depicts a pregnant woman holding her palms together and appears to be crying. The backdrop consists of various colors such as red, blue, and white.''(No Title) (1994)''
Image consists of a multitude of calaveras in different colors with different designs under a full moon. This screen print depicts various colored ''calaveras'', otherwise known as skulls, and a black backdrop.Cuaron, Mita. 'No title;'' ''Image consists of a multitude of calaveras in different colors with different designs under a full moon.''1994. Held at UC Santa Barbara, Library, Department of Special Research Collections. https://oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb9b69p536/?layout=metadata&brand=oac4Awards and honors
Exhibitions
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuaron, Mita Living people Artists from Los Angeles American people of Mexican descent American people of Ukrainian descent 1952 births