Jose Vasconcelos And The Mexican Revolution

During the early 20th century, Mexico endured a dictatorial regime under Porfirio Díaz who favored the white Mexicans and foreigners over the mass population. However, artists and people like José Vasconcelos would contribute to the Mexican Revolution by forging a new Mexican culture that overcame their suppressors. Specifically, notable Mexican muralists such as Diego Rivera, José Orozco, and David Siqueiros in addition to other Mexican artists, helped pioneer artistic engagement in politics and served as a model for the Cubans and Nicaraguans through the strong influence the muralists had in society. The government employed artists proved effective in democratizing a culture appropriated by the bourgeoisie, while creating a sense of nationhood

The Secretary of State for Public Education’s radicalism promoted and helped distribute literature, which enabled all members of society the opportunity to be literate. Similarly, he commissioned Mexican muralists to paint on prominent public buildings where the masses could easily access great art and rally together through its evocative images. Many of the muralists’ artworks related to indigenous cultures, consequences of Spanish conquest, which paralleled the same situation that their contemporaries faced, and more explicit didactic populist art. As a result, culture slowly became democratized and contributed to the rallying of the masses through a national identity. It is quite evident through several artworks such as Diego Rivera’s 1934, Man Controller of the Universe, demonstrates communist philosophies such as promoting an egalitarian society influencing a Mexican mural. These communist concepts infused in art in addition to the images of the people further contributed to the redefinition of their national identity and empowered them to continue to better their conditions. Similarly, as we’ll see shortly Nicaragua and Cuba also appear to have utilized a similar formula from the Mexican revolution into their own revolutions, which demonstrates Mexico and its

For instance, the posters of Ernesto Che Guevara the Cuban revolutionary, were perhaps the most celebrated with styles reminiscent of Op Art and Pop Art by Elena Serrano and others. The manipulation of colors in the posters effectively conveyed “visual tension among these elements featured a sense of animation propelled by reverberating forms that signified historical change, as well as the permanent mobility of a guerrilla force.” (Craven 101). These little ideas provoked by posters like these effectively disseminated culture and portrayed public thoughts, which contributed to the nationhood. The utilization of posters made these messages easily accessible as the graphical images could be commercially produced for mass display. As it appears, both public dialogues and posters were utilized in Cuban society to redefine its national identity and democratize culture by making it highly accessible and stimulating for the citizens. The implementation of elements from European art, political, and indigenous themes in Cuban art highly resemble the themes of the Mexican muralists. Rivera, Orozco, and Siquieros all had some influences from European works whether it be cubism or the Italian frescos and drew upon their indigenous culture. Like in Rivera’s, Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park, which portrayed