Chicano Artists present Protest Art at H'ART Museum - H’ART Museum

A Tribute to the Chicano Movement in the United States

On Wednesday, March 25 , H’ART Museum opens Radical Histories: Chicano Prints from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. This exceptional exhibition showcases bold, graphic protest art by Chicano artists; Americans of Mexican descent who use art as a tool to address injustice, raise awareness, and mobilize communities. The diverse collection features 60 powerful prints by 42 artists advocating for equal rights in the workplace, calling for action against war, and exposing the harsh realities of immigration and violence along the border. Together, these works tell a remarkable and often untold history that feels more relevant today than ever. 

With Radical Histories, H’ART Museum brings to the Netherlands a chapter of American art history rarely seen in Europe. A story of art as a powerful force for activism, emancipation, and social change. The exhibition previously traveled in the United States to the Colby College Museum of Art and The Huntington. It will be on view in Amsterdam from Wednesday, March 25 through Sunday, September 6. Radical Histories marks the second collaboration between H’ART Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum and will be presented next to American Myth & Memory: David Levinthal Photographs. 

Since the 1960s, Chicano artists have been known for their striking political posters and prints, offering fresh perspectives on current events and history. The exhibition presents their work through five themes. 

In ‘Together we Fight’, labor union actions take center stage. Powerful protest art in black and red captures both the despair and determination of workers. ‘¡GUERRA NO!’ features compelling graphic works opposing U.S. military interventions in countries including Vietnam, El Salvador, Chile, Guatemala, and Iraq. Artists create a counter-narrative to dominant media images and give voice to communities affected by these conflicts. A separate section addresses violence and humanitarian crises along the border between Mexico and the United States. Recurring symbols such as the monarch butterfly appear as metaphors for migration as a natural and deeply human phenomenon, despite political borders. 

Under the theme ‘Rethinking America’, Chicano artists critique and question national myths and historical landmarks, including Columbus Day. The final chapter, ‘Changemakers’, centers on portraits of activists, political prisoners, attorneys, artists, and other key figures who have been “forgotten” or excluded from official history books yet have played a defining role in social change in the United States. 

Radical Histories features work by key figures of the Chicano movement, drawn directly from the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Artists such as Malaquías Montoya (1938), Rupert García (1941), Yolanda López (1942–2021), and Ester Hernández (1944) are considered pioneers who uniquely intertwine art and activism. Their graphic works are not only artistically innovative but also function as direct political instruments: through printmaking techniques, images can be rapidly disseminated and deployed in strikes, protests, and civil rights campaigns. By consciously operating at the intersection of art, identity, and activism, their work is now recognized both as an aesthetically influential movement and as a crucial visual engine behind social change. It is precisely this combination of artistic innovation and political impact that makes this group so exceptional.

This exhibition is made possible with the support of founder VriendenLoterij, partners Heineken, Aegon, ELJA Foundation, ABN AMRO and Gemeente Amsterdam, de H’ART Museum Circle and Friends.

Contact H’ART Museum
Press & Marketing Communications Department
Madeline van Vliet and Elianne Koevoets
+31 (0)20 626 81 68 | pressoffice@hartmuseum.nl 

www.hartmuseum.nl/pers/