Nuestra imagen actual | Our Present Image: Mexico and the Graphic Arts 1929-1956

Leopoldo Méndez (Mexican, 1902-1969), Compro tu maíz (I Buy Your Corn), 1949. Linoleum cut, 17 1/2 x 22 3/4 inches. Gift of Dr. Don E. and Carol Steichen Dumond.

José Clemente Orozco (Mexican, 1883-1949) Rear Guard, 1929. Lithograph. Portland Art Museum, The Vivian and Gordon Gilkey Graphic Arts Collection.

David Alfaro Siqueiros (Mexican, 1896-1974). Our Present Image (Originally titled México, 1947), 1947. Lithograph. Portland Art Museum, Museum Purchase: Marion McGill Lawrence Fund

Fanny Rabel (Mexican, b. Poland, 1924-2008). The Drought, ca. 1955. Linoleum cut. Courtesy of Cecily Quintana and Quintana Galleries

Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886-1957). The Communicating Vessels (Homage to André Breton), 1938. Linocut. Courtesy of Dr. Li Ravicz

 

 

Nuestra imagen actual | Our Present Image: Mexico and the Graphic Arts 1929-1956

October 03, 2020 to February 14, 2021

The Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) was one of the great social upheavals of the early twentieth century and a remarkable artistic outpouring ensued during the post-revolutionary decades. Printmaking flourished as artists addressed what happened to the ideals of the Revolution. Imagery attacked fascism and imperialism, promoted labor and indigenous rights, and expressed a renewed interest in cultural traditions. The impact of the father of modern Mexican printmaking, José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913), is evident in works that critically interpret historic events, especially through lively skeletons that dramatize social ills. Artists made posters for the masses in Mexico, as well as prints to satisfy a growing audience for “Mexican art” in the United States.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) and the Portland Art Museum (PAM) are co-organizing Nuestra imagen actual | Our Present Image: Mexico and the Graphic Arts 1929-1956. Curated by Cheryl Hartup, Curator of Academic Programs and Latin American and Caribbean Art at the JSMA, with the assistance Mary Weaver Chapin, Curator of Prints and Drawings at PAM, the exhibition aims to deepen and broaden the understanding and appreciation of the graphic art of post-revolutionary Mexico, a landmark in the history of twentieth-century printmaking and modern art.

The exhibition presents sixty-two lithographs, woodcuts, and wood engravings by twenty-two artists including Elizabeth Catlett, Leopoldo Méndez, José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo, Mariana Yampolsky, and other members of Mexico’s world famous Taller de Gráfica Popular or Popular Graphic Art Workshop (est. 1937). The majority of the prints hail from PAM’s exceptional print collection including Siqueiros’ Nuestra imagen actual, a timeless and universal image of subjugation and torture that inspired the title of the exhibition. The JSMA thanks the following lenders to the exhibition for their generosity and support: Portland Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Cecily Quintana and Quintana Galleries, Dr. Li Ravicz, and University of Oregon Libraries’ Special Collections. The JSMA greatly appreciates the work of University of Oregon student Wendy Echeverría García on this project. Support provided by Art Bridges, and by members and donors to the JSMA.

 

Online Resources
Nuestra imagen actual Our Present Image: Mexico and the Graphic Arts 1929-1956: Virtual Tour

Gallery Guide in Spanish
Gallery Guide in English

Video: A Minute Exhibit (English)
Video: A Minute Exhibit (Spanish)

Almuerzo y arte | Lunch and Art
(programa virtual) (virtual program)
JSMA curator Cheryl Hartup and UO student Wendy Echeverría García converse about their favorite works in the exhibition Nuestra imagen actual | Our Present Image: Mexico and the Graphic Arts, 1929-1956. 
Almuerzo y arte | Lunch and Art Part I
Almuerzo y arte | Lunch and Art Part II

39th annual Día de los Muertos virtual celebration
39th annual Día de los Muertos virtual celebration Day 1
39th annual Día de los Muertos virtual celebration Day 2

"Transcultural Bridges and Political Activism: Mexico and the Graphic Arts, 1929-1956”
In Conversation With Cheryl Hartup & Wendy Echeverría García
As part of the Eugene Public Library Foundation’s lunch break series, In Conversation with Experts and Enthusiasts, join JSMA curator Cheryl Hartup and UO student Wendy Echeverría García for a virtual presentation on the museum’s current exhibition showcasing printmaking in post-revolutionary Mexico.

Virtual Artist Talk: Sand Rodriguez
Artist Sandy Rodriguez and UO’s Latinx Scholars Academic Residential Community students in a Q & A.
Generous support for this project was provided by Art Bridges.
Sandy Rodriguez is a Los Angeles-based painter. Her work investigates the methods and materials of painting across cultures and histories. Her Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón is made up of a collection of maps and paintings about the intersections of history, social memory, contemporary politics, and cultural production. She was raised in San Diego, Tijuana, and Los Angeles. Rodriguez earned her BFA from California Institute of Arts and has exhibited at a number of regional institutions, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Art + Practice, Los Angeles; Riverside Art Museum and Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles. (from
https://www.studiosandyrodriguez.com)