Cheech Marin’s Chicano art at LACMA - Los Angeles

After more than seven years on the road, the Chicano art collection of Cheech Marin has finally come home. Its last stop is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the hometown venue that initially turned down a show that toured nationally and drew large crowds as “Chicano Visions.” A scaled-down version, titled “Los Angelenos/Chicano Painters of L.A.,” opens Sunday at LACMA West. It features almost 50 paintings by some of the most influential members of the first generation of Chicano artists, including Patssi Valdez and three of the original members of Los Four — Frank Romero, Carlos Almaraz and Gilbert “Magu” Lujan — the collective featured in what is considered the country’s first major Chicano art exhibition, shown at LACMA in 1974.

For Marin, who championed Chicano art as his personal crusade, it’s not only a triumphal homecoming but a vindication for his campaign to place these artists squarely in the American mainstream. “With LACMA, it’s been love-hate toward the Chicano community since the beginning,” says Marin, best known as half of the comedy team of Cheech and Chong. “We’ve always been treated as the stepchildren. But I think that attitude is turning around now. . . . They can’t ignore us anymore.”"*

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