Zeke Pena Analysis – Sophia Boutros

Zeke Pena is a Chicano, self taught, illustrator/political cartoonist/ writer from El Paso, Texas. He received his art history degree from the University of Texas, and since then has been working to bring awareness to the oppression that’s been placed upon his community and, more generally, spread universal ideas of loving one another.

Through his work, he conveys themes of resiliency within marginalized communities and the importance of nature’s interconnectedness. Not only does he show protestors and people representing his community within his artwork, but in most illustrations he has animals of all kinds rallying with the humans. This is symbolic of the idea that we are all just animals that inhabit this earth, and to discriminate against your fellow man just because his skin is a different color, or his culture has different morals than you, does not make him lesser.

The first image of Pena’s I thought was important was “A NOMAD IN LOVE.” Made in 2015, This piece was, as Pena describes in an instagram post, “… very raw and personal.”  It  is symbolic of unrequited love, and the feeling of not fitting in anywhere; thus becoming a nomad. The second image I chose is called “All Against The Wall,” which is referencing what police typically would be doing during a protest to control a crowd, but in this case the illustration juxtaposes the title by showing the protestors and animals peacefully marching the streets. The final image I chose is titled “The River,” which is an illustration of the Rio Grande river that runs through Texas and is the line that separates Mexico and The United States. Pena states his drawing is a representation of the history, present, and future of the river.

Zeke Peña gives an insight into an oppressed community that can only be truly understood from an insiders perspective. Through his illustrations, he effectively makes light of the racial injustice that is put upon the Chicano people everyday.