Support the U.F.W.A. International Boycott
Ricardo Favela
Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF)
Silkscreen, 1976
Sacramento, CA
2497
José Montoya,
poet, muralist, printmaker, musician and teacher died last week at 81. He
taught at California State University, Sacramento for 27 years and served as Poet Laureate
of Sacramento from 2002 to 2004. In 1969, José and
other activists, artists, poets and students (including Esteban Villa, Juanishi Orosco,
Ricardo Favela, Armando R. Cid, Eva Garcia, Lorraine García-Nakata, Juan
Cervantes, and Joe Serna, Jr.) co-founded
the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF). Initially named Rebel Chicano Art
Front, they changed their name in response to confusion caused by having the
same initials as the Royal Canadian Air Force. The RCAF was noted for their outrageous humor, and built
upon the Royal Canadian Air Force connection by dressing as WWII pilots—as in
the above poster of the week—and claiming to fly adobe airplanes.
RCAF was one of the
earliest and most influential of the Chicano art collectives. Based
in Sacramento, the RCAF advocated for Chicano civil rights and the United Farm
Workers. They often brought
silkscreen equipment right into the fields, producing posters on site.
CSPG’s Poster of the Week was done by RCAF co-founder
Ricardo Favela. Four members of
the RCAF, dressed in WWII bomber jackets, are doing creative boycotting in
front of a Safeway Market, targeted by the United Farm Workers for
selling non union grapes and lettuce.
After the photo was taken they accidentally entered a parade—where they
won 2nd prize for the best float!
The Center for the Study of
Political Graphics is honored to have more than 60 RCAF silkscreens in the
archive, and will continue to exhibit these powerful graphics to future
generations. José Montoya’s work will continue to
inspire.
José Montoya
(1932-2013)
¡ PRESENTE !
To see an
interview with José Montoya:
Additional
Sources:
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