An Immigrant s Perspective LESSON 7 Appendix

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1 An Immigrant s Perspective LESSON 7 Appendix The Power of Printmaking Notes to PowerPoint [ SLIDES 1-6 ] Share text on slide. [ SLIDE 7 ] Crossing the Rio Bravo, by Luis Jiménez Now that we ve discussed the how-to or techniques of printmaking, we re going to discuss the why of printmaking. Why would an artist choose to make a print over a drawing, sculpture, painting, et cetera? Let s take another look at this work, Crossing the Rio Bravo, by Luis Jiménez. [ SLIDE 8 ] Similarities/Differences You may remember from when we studied this before that Luis Jiménez created a large sculpture depicting the same scene he shows in his print. Let s brainstorm the ways these two works of art are similar and different. We ve already named one similarity: they both show a group of people crossing the Rio Bravo. Can we name some others? Don t be afraid to state the obvious. [Allow students to brainstorm similarities and differences. Following is a list of some points they might mention and which you can help them observe]. Similarities: dramatic, colorful, sensation of movement. Differences: Sculpture is 3D. Print is 2D. You can walk around the sculpture. Print is much smaller. Sculpture can be stored outside. Ask students to think about printmaking versus sculpture. What are the pros and cons of each medium or art form? The following are sample responses. Students may come up with additional/alternative responses. Ask students to clarify their answers or give an example Printmaking Pro: Smaller, easier to carry, easier to take care of, less expensive to make, able to copy multiple times, spread a message far and wide, can hang almost anywhere, easy to store Printmaking Con: smaller could mean less impact, flatness is less interesting, could disintegrate outside Sculpture Pro: can be very large, in physical space so it has a big impact, as humans we can relate to the 3D figures, more life-like and more relatable, easier to see from far away, can be stored outside for more to see Sculpture Con: expensive, not as easy to copy, needs to be cleaned/maintained, can be vandalized if left in public, usually a unique object, so you have to be there to see it, cannot see entire artwork at once (might have to circle around it)

2 Notes to PowerPoint Summarize students answers and explain that many Mexican and Mexican-American artists have chosen to use the art form of printmaking because of some of the reasons the class mentioned. It is affordable and easy to reproduce, making it ideal for spreading a message and making sure the work is seen by as many people as possible. [ SLIDE 9 ] Printmaking and the Mexican Revolution 1. Printmaking and Mexican history are closely intertwined. Between , Mexico was shaken by a socialist revolution that aimed to topple the elite ruling class and improve conditions for society at large. The revolutionary government felt art was a great way to promote the values of the Revolution. They employed artists to cover the walls of public buildings with large murals and supported workshops to make prints for mass distribution. 2. The prints artists made conveyed messages of the Revolution s cause. They functioned similar to propaganda against the dictatorship of the time. Mexico had been under the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz for 35 years. [Review the definition of propaganda and dictatorship with students: propaganda: ideas or statements that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc. dictatorship: rule by a dictator; rule, control, or leadership by one person with total power]. 3. These revolutionary prints often featured important historical figures, leaders, Mexican people and locations. 4. Prints were inexpensive and could be reproduced many times for very little money. All you needed was wood or linoleum, a blade to carve, ink and paper. They provided the perfect way to quickly and cheaply spread messages to ordinary people. [ SLIDE 10 ] Some of the best-known prints from this period were produced by the three greats of Mexican art: Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. They either trained in Europe or lived for long periods in the United States. All were supporters of the Mexican Revolution. Top left: Los tres somos víctimas ( We Are All Three Victims ), by David Alfaro Siqueiros. This image is from El Machete, a revolutionary newspaper. Siqueiros created this as an illustration for a play about the triumph of workers, peasants, and poor soldiers over the rich. Its caption reads Siqueiros, David Alfaro and Graciela Amador. To the soldiers, to the works and the peasants: We are all three victims, we are all three brothers. A Farse performed in various acts: The fall of the rich and the construction of a new social order, Mexico City, April ( A los soldados, a los obreros y a los campesinos: Los tres somos víctimas, los tres somos hermanos; Farsa en varios actos titulada; La caída de los ricos y la construcción de un nuevo orden social. El Machete: Periódico quincenal (Mexico City), April )

3 Notes to PowerPoint Top right: Emiliano Zapata and his horse, Diego Rivera, 1932 (lithograph). Revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata, who was killed in 1919, appears often in the work of Mexican artists of the 1920s and 1930s. In this lithograph made by Rivera in 1932, he commemorates the revolutionary leader and makes him relatable to the Mexican people. This print was very popular and was reproduced worldwide. Bottom: La Bandera (The Flag), José Clemente Orozco, This scene of the Mexican Revolution shows the back of a railroad car, a pregnant woman, and an enormous, heavy revolutionary flag carried by very exhausted-looking soldiers. Orozco is quoted as saying I don t trust revolutions or glorify them, since I witnessed too much butchery. This message comes across in the image, as the flag is a heavy weight that the weary soldiers have to carry. [ SLIDE 11 ] The tradition of printmaking continued in Mexico after the turmoil of the Revolution had died down. 1. The Taller de Gráfica Popular or People s Graphic Workshop was founded in Mexico City in 1937 by artists Leopoldo Méndez, Pablo O Higgins & Luis Arenal. It provided printmaking facilities and promoted the mass production of prints and posters. These printmakers used their art to advance revolutionary social causes. The print shop became a base of political activity and abundant artistic output, and attracted many foreign artists as collaborators. 2. The great majority of these works address the country s tumultuous political and social upheavals, from propaganda in support of striking tram workers, to caricatures of the police, landowners and capitalists who kept the government in power. The image here reads: Let s stop aggression towards the working class! Help the strikers from Palau, Nueva Rosita and Cloete! Send your donation to Raul Torres B., Field number 2, Palau, Coahuila. 3. [Draw students attention to the TGP (Taller Gráfica Popluar) initials in the bottom left corner] [ SLIDE 12 ] 1. During Chicano Movement (1960s 80s), a civil rights movement in the USA promoting the rights of Mexican Americans, posters were inexpensive and mass-produced by community based artists and grass roots activists to educate Mexican Americans on important issues. Printed by the hundreds, their imagery and messages advertised events or instigated social protest throughout the Mexican-American barrios (neighborhoods). Like the Chicano murals painted on public walls, these graphic works on paper also encouraged their target audience to reflect and act 2. Many Chicano Movement artists had learned printmaking as an industrial skill in shop classes at the technical high schools. They used their skills to create posters and protest sign for marches and meetings. Many of these artists later became fine arts printmakers.

4 Notes to PowerPoint [ SLIDE 13 ] The art form of printmaking has persisted among Mexican-American artists and remains popular today. Self Help Graphics & Art was founded in East L.A. as a community arts center by local Chicano printmakers. They began producing prints in an East L.A. garage and decided to work together to promote community arts and the work of local artists, to use art as an instrument of social change in the barrio. The Serie Project is a nonprofit organization founded 1993 by Sam Coronado in Austin, Texas. They offer artists the chance to create high quality prints. Their goal is to increase the presence of minorities in the art world. Two-thirds of all its resident artists are Latino. The organization sells the prints at affordable prices to promote the artists careers and support their program. [ SLIDE 14 ] The Tradition of Printmaking continues with Mexican Americans in Chicago. Let s take a look at some leading printmakers and printmaking groups in Chicago 1. Carlos Cortéz, whose work We are of the earth We are not illegal! we studied earlier in the unit, moved to Chicago in the late 1960s. For the next 30 years, he worked from his basement studio to create wood- and linoleum-cut prints. His living room became a gathering place for other artists as well as poets who believed art should work to create social change, raise awareness of underprivileged groups, celebrate native cultures and promote peace. 2. In 1975, he helped found the first Mexican arts organization in Illinois, Movimiento Artístico Chicano, or MARCH. He was a fervent supporter and often showed his artwork at the National Museum of Mexican Art. 3. Cortéz and other Chicago Mexican-American printmakers established the Mexican Graphics Workshop in Its mission was to continue in the tradition of Mexico s Taller de Gráfica Popular we saw earlier in the presentation. 4. The Workshop changed its name in 1997 to Taller Mestizarte to align itself with the Chicano Arts Movement. The Taller Mestizarte promotes printmaking and murals addressing community issues and cultural values. It is a collective that promotes work by Latino artists from the U.S. and abroad and is located in the very heart of the Pilsen neighborhood, home to many of Chicago s Latino artists. 5. The Instituto Gráfico de Chicago is a newly founded, Pilsen-based group of printmakers. Over 30 local and international printmakers meet to cut blocks and print together, promoting the tradition of Mexican-American printmaking. Explanatory video: com/projects/ /posada-presente-and-community-printmaking-festival.

5 An Immigrant s Perspective LESSON 7 Appendix Sketch Worksheet

6 Helpful Hints: Remember that you will be using a blade to cut away lines. Very fine or thin lines will be more difficult to carve and take more time. Remember that any image or text that you include in your block will appear reversed when you print it. See the example below. If you have difficulty writing backwards, use a mirror to help you. Remember that the areas you cut away will appear white and the areas you leave will take the color of the ink. Block Design (note the reversed text & image) Printed Image