Mey-Yen Moriuchi, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
School of Arts and Sciences, Art History
Mey-Yen Moriuchi

Dr. Mey-Yen Moriuchi received her B.A. in History of Art and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in History of Art from Bryn Mawr College. Dr.  Moriuchi teaches a variety of topics, including Latin American art, art and history of Mexico, women and art, public art, and contemporary art and activism, among other introductory and survey courses. Her research focuses on cultural encounters, sociological observations, and representations of racial, social, and national identities in 18th-to 20th-century Latin American and American art.

Dr. Moriuchi’s book, Mexican Costumbrismo: Race, Society, and Identity in Nineteenth-Century Art, was published by Penn State University Press in 2018, and received honorable mention by the Eleanor Tufts Award committee. She is also the co-editor of Art and Activism in the Twenty-First Century (Routledge, 2022) which examines the role and breadth of contemporary activist art.

Her articles on the artists Wifredo Lam, Frida Kahlo, and Harry Willson Watrous have appeared in the edited volume, Afro-Asian Connections in Latin America and the Caribbean (Lexington Books, 2018), and the journals, The Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (2018), and Art Inquiries (2020) respectively. Dr. Moriuchi has also published several online essays on 19th and 20th-century Latin American art in Smarthistory. Her current research examines Asian-African-Latin American connections in the artworks of 20th-century artists such as Wifredo Lam, Luis Nishizawa, and Tilsa Tsuchiya.

Areas of Expertise

  • Colonial Latin American Art
  • Latin American Modernism
  • Mexican Muralism
  • Surrealism
  • Race and Identity in Art
  • Public Art and Activism

Education

  • Ph.D., History of Art, Bryn Mawr College
  • M.A., History of Art, Bryn Mawr College
  • B.A., History of Art and International Relations, University of Pennsylvania

Teaching

  • Art and Identity in a Global World (Honors)
  • Art of the Street: Monuments, Murals, and Graffiti (First Year Seminar)
  • Colonial to Contemporary Latin American Art
  • Contemporary Art and Activism
  • History of Art II, Renaissance to Contemporary
  • Introduction to Art History
  • Mexican Art and History (Travel Study course to Mexico City)
  • Methods and Theories of Art History
  • Race and Identity in Art
  • Surrealism: Beyond the Canon
  • The Wall as Art: Murals in Philadelphia and Beyond
  • Women and Art

Publications

“Living Hell: The Chinese Coolie Trade in Nineteenth-Century Cuba,” Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 101.7 (2024): 649-72.

Co-editor, The Routledge Companion to Art and Activism in the Twenty-First Century (New York: Routledge, 2022). Co-edited with Lesley Shipley, Ph.D. Randolph College.

“Luis Nishizawa and mexicanidad,” Smarthistory, 2022. https://smarthistory.org/luis-nishizawa-and-mexicanidad

“Latin American Modernisms” Chapter in Reframing Art History Textbook, Smarthistory, 2022. https://smarthistory.org/reframing-art-history/latin-american-modernisms/

“The Drop Sinister: Harry Willson Watrous’ Visualization of the One-Drop Rule,” Art Inquiries, Vol. XVIII, no. 1 (2020): 521-37.

“Locating Chinese Culture and Aesthetics in the Art of Wifredo Lam,” in Afro-Asian Connections in Latin America and the Caribbean, eds. Debra Lee-DiStefano and Luisa Ossa (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2019), 27-60.

“Wifredo Lam, The Eternal Presence,” in Smarthistory, December 15, 2019. https://smarthistory.org/wifredo-lam-the-eternal-presence/.

“Picturing Racial and Social Identities in José Agustín Arrieta’s Costumbrista Painting, La Sorpreza,” in Smarthistory, September 22, 2019, https://smarthistory.org/arrieta-la-sorpreza/.

“Coming of Age in Gutiérrez’s Costumbrista Painting, La despedida del joven,” in Smarthistory, September 22, 2019, https://smarthistory.org/gutierrez-farewell/.

Mexican Costumbrismo: Race, Society, and Identity in Nineteenth-Century Art (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2018). Honorable Mention Eleanor Tufts Award, 2019.

“Casta, Costumbrismo, Kahlo,” Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 95, no. 7 (Summer 2018): 769-784.

“Space, Place, and Gender in Dorothea Tanning’s The Temptation of Saint Anthony,” in Art and Social Change, eds. Klare Scarborough and Susan Dixon (Philadelphia: La Salle University Art Museum, 2016), 161-175.

“El Arte Rompe Fronteras: Art Breaks Down Borders,” in Border Crossings: Immigration in Contemporary Prints, ed.  Klare Scarborough (Philadelphia: La Salle University, 2016), 1-10. Exh. Cat.

“From Casta to Costumbrista: Representations of Racialized Social Spaces,” in Envisioning Others: Race, Color and the Visual in Iberia and Latin America, ed. Pamela Patton (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 213-240.

“Transnationalism in the Art of Elizabeth Catlett,” in Elizabeth Catlett: Art for Social Justice, ed. Klare Scarborough (Philadelphia: La Salle University, 2015), 15-20. Exh. Cat.

“Art as an Instrument of Social Change: North and South of the Border,” in American Scenes: WPA-Era Prints of the 1930s and 1940s, eds. Klare Scarborough and Carmen Vendelin (Philadelphia: La Salle University Art Museum, 2014), 23-32. Exh. Cat.

“From ‘les types populaires’ to ‘los tipos populares’: Nineteenth-Century Mexican Costumbrismo,” Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide 12, no. 1 (Spring 2013): 1-23.

Select Presentations

2024 Nineteenth-Century Studies Association “Thresholds” Conference, Louisville, KY
“Between Slave and Freeman: Chinese Coolies in Nineteenth-Century Cuba” (Mar 14-16)

2022 Midwest Art History Society Conference, Houston, TX
“Circles and Circuits: Twentieth-Century Asian/Latin American Artists” (Mar 10)

2022 “The Drop Sinister: Harry Willson Watrous’ Visualization of the One-Drop Rule,” Barnet Scholar Featured Speaker for Gallery Talk and Public Lecture, Portland Museum of Art (Nov 11-12)

2022 “Representation and Resistance: The History of Chinese Coolies in 19th-Century Cuba” Cornell University, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program Spring Seminar Series (May 2)

2021 “Wifredo Lam, The Jungle” Smarthistory Commons Conversations Webinar Series (Oct 20)

2021 Feminist Art History Conference, Washington D.C.
“Tilsa Tsuchiya’s Mitos: Existence and Possibility” (Sep 25)

2021 Spaces Between Conference, Charlottesville, VA
“The Drop Sinister: Harry Willson Watrous’ Visualization of the One-Drop Rule” (Jun 2)

2020 “Race, Society, and Identity in 19th-century Mexican Costumbrismo” Santa Barbara Museum of Art “Art Matters” Lecture Series (Nov 5)

2020 College Art Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL
“Typecasting in Nineteenth-Century Mexican Tarjetas de Visita” (Feb 14)

2019 Southeastern College Art Conference, Chattanooga, TN
“Multiculturalism, Modernism, and Myth in the Art of Tilsa Tsuchiya” (Oct 18)

2019 College Art Association Annual Conference, New York, NY
“Nation Building Outside the Academy: Re-considering Mexican Costumbrismo” (Feb 14)

2018 International Society for the Study of Surrealism (ISSS) Surrealisms Conference, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
“The Multiple Surrealisms of Wifredo Lam” (Nov 3)

2018 Nineteenth-Century Studies Association “Vistas” Conference, Philadelphia, PA
“Vistas in 19th-Century Mexican Tarjetas de Visita” (Mar 15)

2017 Asians in the Americas Symposium, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO
“Locating Chinese Culture and Aesthetics in the Art of Wifredo Lam” (Sep 23)

2017 College Language Association, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
“Asian-African Connections in the Art of Wifredo Lam” (Apr 6)

2016 Tracing Types: Comparative Analyses of Nineteenth-Century Sketches, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
“Grisette, Maja, Manola, China: Tracing Representations” (Jun 4)

2016 Dissecting Society II. Social Movement, Literature, Social Science Conference. Co-sponsored by the Remarque Institute (NYU) and the Department of Comparative Literature (NYU). New York University, New York, NY
“Between the Observer and the Observed: Social Differentiation in 19th-century Mexican Costumbrismo” (Apr 16)

2015 Asians in the Americas Symposium, La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA
“The Legend of the China Poblana: Indian Princess or Poor Slave?” (Nov 7)

2015 Dissecting Society: Periodical Literature and Social Observation (1830-1850)
New York University Center for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, New York, NY
“From ‘Les types populaires’ to ‘Los tipos populares’: Nineteenth-Century Mexican Costumbrismo” (Mar 20)

2015 College Art Association Annual Conference, New York, NY
“The Drop Sinister: Henry Willson Watrous’s Visualization of the ‘One-Drop Rule’” (Feb 11)

2014 Feminist Art History Conference, American University, Washington D.C.
“Casta, Costumbrismo, Kahlo” (Nov 1)

2014 Nineteenth-Century Hispanists International Network, York University, Toronto, Canada
“Nineteenth-Century Costumbrismo Re-Imagined” (Apr 26)

2014 Nineteenth-Century Studies Association “Urbanism and Urbanity” Conference, Chicago, IL
“The Urbanites of Nineteenth-Century Mexico” (Mar 20)

2013 Southeastern College Art Conference, Greensboro, NC
“Nineteenth-Century Mexican Costumbrismo” (Oct 31)

2013 University of Michigan Conference, “Colonial Resonance”, Ann Arbor, MI
“Resonating Casta within Costumbrismo” (Sep 27)

2013 College Art Association Annual Conference, New York, NY
“From Casta to Costumbrista: Representations of Racialized Social Spaces” (Feb 14)

Professional Service

Philadelphia Museum of Art Board Trustee. Member of Education and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Committees

Nineteenth-Century Studies Association Board Member and Conference Co-Chair (2026-2028)

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