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This poster, a protest against Sun-Maid, is part of an exhibit at Metro Galleries to be unveiled Friday. Collector Craig Neville jokes that he thinks it might be illegal to display the poster in Fresno County.
Somewhere, Cesar Chavez is either laughing or weeping.
But the contradiction doesn't seem as blatant after a conversation with the affable collector Craig Neville, owner of Henley's Photo in downtown Bakersfield.
It seems Neville, who for years worked as a labor contractor, takes the verynarrow middle ground on what has been a bitter and protracted struggle between workers and growers.
"My political views -- I'm not strong that way,"he said over the phone Monday.
"To me, the past is the past, and we all respect each other's opinions, and I think there are beautiful pieces there that mean something to someone, and I think it's time people have access to them."
Neville means what he says about access:The 60-odd pieces he's been collecting over the last few years have been in storage until now. But Metro Galleries president Don Martin got wind of the art and persuaded Neville to display a few of the pieces at the gallery during First Friday tomorrow evening.
"I've been researching the artists and the groups that created these posters and prints for the past few weeks," Martin said. "Most were done at the height of the farm-labor movement and many of them are part of the fabric of the history of this community.
"I'm not trying to make a political statement by showing these but rather encouraging the viewer to remember or learn about this era."
The subject matter of Neville's collection -- mostly posters and drawings -- ranges from religious iconography to Chicano pride to anti-grower sloganeering to stirring calls to action directed at field workers.
Depending on one's political inclinations, some of the more provocative pieces could be dismissed as flame-throwing propaganda, created to mobilize public support for boycotts and other union action. But tying the art together into a cohesive collection are the overarching themes of social justice, empowerment and cultural identity.
Neville estimates that most of the pieces were created in the 1960s and '70s. He acquired many from a friend, whom he described as "being in the movement," though he declined to give the man's name out of respect for his privacy. Neville said much of the work bears the stamp of a Los Angeles art gallery, which he believes is a sign of its authenticity. For information on the other pieces, he consulted the reference guide "Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation."
"What they do is various people get together and analyze, review and kind of maintain the history of the Chicano movement as it pertains to the '60s and '70s," said Neville, who noted that his collection contains works by noted Mexican-American artists Salvador Roberto Torres and Jose Montoya.
The most current image, a poster made from a 2004 San Francisco billboard, depicts then-President George W. Bush with the word "LIAR" scrawled under the portrait (no hard feelings:Neville points out he voted for Bush).
But his favorite piece is probably the least political of all: a poster that features a little girl in a sweet watermelon-print summer dress.
"It would break my heart (to sell it) and, again, I don't know if I'm parting with it all," said Neville, who as of earlier this week hadn't quite settled on which, if any, of the pieces will be offered for sale.
"The big thing Friday night is putting it out there. I want to share this."
According Bakersfield resident Henry Rangel, "I sold the pieces cheap. Yes, I sold my birthright but I would like some credit."
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