At issue, a definition of success

ITS future is far from certain, but Chicano Art Magazine (www.chicanoartmagazine.com) has reached a milepost many fledgling art magazines never make -- a second issue, which will be out in about two weeks.

The magazine, founded and edited by Laura Molina, a painter who lives in the Antelope Valley, premiered in July, priced at $6, aiming to provide a forum for makers and admirers of Mexican Americana art. Three-thousand copies were printed.

The idea, said Molina, is to take on Mexican American pop culture the same way Giant Robot Magazine has been taking on Asian American pop culture for the last decade. The 58-page first issue included stories on how the old R. Crumb “Keep on Truckin’ ” cartoon fueled a conceptual art project in San Diego; how the “lowbrown” painter Jaime Zacarias got the nickname “Germs”; and how the Los Angeles-based artist Gronk wound up working with the Santa Fe Opera last year.

Although the issue featured many ads from galleries and publishers throughout California and the Southwest, Molina said, “we have no backers, no deals, no nothing. We’re artists, and we’re going by the seat of our pants.”

-- Christopher Reynolds