Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Maravilla Housing Project, Mednik Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue, East Los Angeles

Oscar R. Castillo, Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Maravilla Housing Project, Mednik Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue, East Los Angeles, early 1970s, printed 2012, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.51.3, © 2012, Oscar R. Castillo
Copied Oscar R. Castillo, Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Maravilla Housing Project, Mednik Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue, East Los Angeles, early 1970s, printed 2012, inkjet print, image: 14 x 20 in. (35.5 x 50.8 cm) sheet: 17 x 22 in. (43.2 x 55.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.51.3, © 2012, Oscar R. Castillo

Artwork Details

Title
Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Maravilla Housing Project, Mednik Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue, East Los Angeles
Artist
Date
early 1970s, printed 2012
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
image: 14 x 20 in. (35.5 x 50.8 cm) sheet: 17 x 22 in. (43.2 x 55.9 cm)
Copyright
© 2012, Oscar R. Castillo
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
inkjet print
Classifications
Subjects
  • Religion — Christianity
  • Religion — New Testament — Mary
  • Monument — religious — shrine
  • Cityscape — California — Los Angeles
Object Number
2013.51.3
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2013.51.3

Artwork Description

Oscar Castillo's photograph of the ruins of the Maravilla Housing project casts murals as miraculous apparitions that suggest hope rising from destruction. Castillo documents two murals by David Lopez that had become a popular community shrine. The murals were so valued by local residents that they were saved during the demolition and reinstalled at another site. The artist's detailed title, which identifies the cross streets where the original shrine was located, conveys his intent to record a community memory.

Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography, 2017
Description in Spanish

La fotografía de Oscar Castillo de las ruinas de la vivienda pública Maravilla presenta los murales como apariciones milagrosas que sugieren la esperanza que nace de la destrucción. Castillo documenta dos murales de David López que se habían convertido en un conocido santuario de la comunidad. Los murales eran tan valorados por los residentes que fueron rescatados durante la demolición y reinstalados en otro sitio. El título tan detallado del artista, que identifica el cruce de las calles donde se encontraba originalmente el santuario, transmite la intención de conservar un recuerdo communitario.

Por estas calles bravas: Comunidad y lugar en la fotografía urbana, 2017

Exhibitions

Photograph of children playing in the water from a fire hydrant by Hiram Maristany
Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography
May 11, 2017–August 5, 2017
Smithsonian American Art Museum
America’s urban streets have long inspired documentary photographers. After World War II, populations shifted from the city to the suburbs and newly built highways cut through thriving neighborhoods, leaving isolated pockets within major urban centers.