The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of May 30, 2026
Cholas I (con Zapata y Villa), White Fence, East L.A.
1986, printed 2024
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
According to Iturbide, the women in Cholas I (con Zapata y Villa), White Fence, East L.A. claimed not to know the identity of the painted figures behind them, telling her that Zapata, Villa, and Juárez were “mariachi singers.”Description
Four women pose in their East Los Angeles neighborhood in front of a wall bearing the painted portraits of the Mexican icons Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, and Benito Juárez. From Graciela Iturbide’s description of this series, we know that the women are hearing-impaired, a factor that complicates the meaning of their hand gestures, reading as both sign language and gang signs. The women were members of White Fence, a Mexican-heritage gang based in East Los Angeles that was formed in the 1920s and whose history is highly politicized. Deeply shaped by their Mexican heritage, yet part of their own unique community in LA, their portraits exemplify the complex layers of personal identities in the borderlands.- {{cite web|title=Cholas I (con Zapata y Villa), White Fence, East L.A.|url=false|author=Graciela Iturbide|year=1986, printed 2024|access-date=30 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2024.146