Mas Rudas Archive-a process

(4 Chicanas Making Art) 2009- 2015 RIP

Ruth L. Buentello, Sarah Castillo, Kristin Gamez, Mari Hernandez

Más Rudas: to be tough, to be defiant, and without apology. (collectively written statement)

Más Rudas is a Chicana art collective based in San Antonio, Texas. The group is comprised of four members who have been creating installations together since 2009. Their name–Más Rudas—is a collectively created phrase that has multiple definitions. Másexpresses exaggeration, encompassing our multiple voices, and places an emphasis on Rudas. Rudas challenges the view of women as subordinate, passive, inferior, dainty, and polite.

Our multi-media installations are educational, promote dialogue, confront the traditional canon of art, and create a space to address our personal and social identities. To design our installations, we research, reflect, and create collaboratively. Our mediums consist of video, photography, painting, sculpture, fiber, performance, audio, and text.

Our non-traditional ways of presenting our work are inspired by our bicultural experiences. Those experiences are rooted in a Do it Yourself (DIY) and rasquache philosophies.

Calling ourselves Chicana is a form of protest.

Many artists resist the term Chicana in fear of being pigeonholed and excluded from the art world. We feel that our Chicana identity does not hinder or limit us. Our work is influenced by our diverse Chicana experiences. What sets us apart in the scope of Chicana art history is the current time and our geographical location.

San Antonio fosters a unique bicultural experience that shapes our identities. It is also a source of inspiration that we have no fear of embracing.

The women of MRC take up symbols and traditions of their Mexican American context and fashion weapons against the limits imposed on them by preexisting meanings embedded therein. They also playfully recognize and resist postmodernist strains of Chicana/o art history and curation that respond to the same contexts. – Josh T. Franco Art Historian

Exhibitions

Our Debut-San Antonio, TX 2009
Canis Familiaris- Guadalupe Cultural Arts, San Antonio, TX 2010
Homegirls- Slanguage Studio, Wilmington, CA
Mas Triste- Unit B Gallery San Antonio, TX
Chicanas Only- Mexic- Arte, Austin Tx 20
Ruda Phat- Institute of Texas Cultures, San Antonio, TX
Brown Style- Artpace San Antonio, TX 2012
Disturbance of Distance- Box13, Houston Tx, 2013.
Y Que, Curation Project -Mexic Arte 2014
Walking Altars- Luminaria Arts Festival San Antonio, TX 2015

Chicanas Only Installation, Mexic- Arte Museum, Austin, TX.

Operation Canis Familiaris Installation, Guadalupe Cultural Arts, 2010.
My Pitbull Toy, Ruth Buentello, Canis Familiaris Installation, Guadalupe Cultural Arts, 2010.
Detail of Operation Canis Familiaris Installation, Guadalupe Cultural Arts, 2010.
Dead Dog, Ruth Buentello, Canis Familiaris Installation, Guadalupe Cultural Arts, 2010.