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| James Luna, a performance and installation artist and Luiseño/Diegueño Native American living on the La Jolla Reservation in North San Diego County, makes art based on his individual and cultural identity. Luna received his B.F.A. from the University of California, Irvine, and an M.S. in counseling from San Diego State University in 1983.
Luna employs a clinical straightforwardness and a razor-sharp sense of humor in pieces that regularly challenge stereotypes surrounding American Indians. In this piece entitled Half Indian/Half Mexican he uses photographs of his own face, one half sporting a mustache and slicked-back hair and the other half clean-shaven with long hair, to illustrate the illusion that labels and stereotypes build, especially in the United States-Mexico border region. The third image is of him from the front with both halves side by side, displaying the contrast his appearance gives from each side.  (For Grades 3-5) What was the artist trying to say about his cultural background by placing these images side by side? Why do you think he made the images black and white? |
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| James Luna
United States, born 1950 Half Indian/Half Mexican, 1991 three black and white photographs, photographer: Richard A. Lou 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm), each of 3 Gift of the Peter Norton Family Foundation 1992.6.1-3 © Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego |
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