New Exhibit Explores Graphic Arts Images in Mexico

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New Exhibit in University Libraries Explores Images from “El Taller de Grafica”
April 13, 2012 | By Karen Wentworth

Taller de Grafica Pop­u­lar “Con igual area, con igual tra­bajo, con major semi­lla: Mayor pro­duc­cion, 1950″ from the Cen­ter for South­west Research Pic­to­r­ial Collection
A new exhibit at the Herzstein Latin Amer­i­can Gallery on the 2nd floor of Zim­mer­man Library explores the imagery of “El Taller de Grafica Pop­u­lar” (Pop­u­lar Graph­ics Work­shop). TGP is a graphic art col­lec­tive founded in Mex­ico City in 1937.

As activists, the TGP demon­strated and lob­bied for the improve­ment of social and polit­i­cal con­di­tions in Mex­ico includ­ing pro­gres­sive labor laws, access to edu­ca­tion, and the con­trol of nat­ural resources. The graphic work of the TGP was meant to engage, inform, and edu­cate the peo­ple of Mex­ico, as well as to chal­lenge an inter­na­tional audience.

Polit­i­cal and social issues, both domes­tic and inter­na­tional, were there­fore the focus of TGP pro­duc­tions. As such, impor­tant to the TGP was the leg­i­bil­ity of an image, the rel­e­vance of an image to the global predica­ments of mar­gin­al­ized cit­i­zens, and the role of their work in fos­ter­ing action.


Taller de Grafica Pop­u­lar logo poster from the Cen­ter for South­west Research Pic­to­r­ial Collection
Top­ics at the core of their prints and addressed in this show include: Mexico’s divided her­itage and frag­mented his­tory; poverty and oppres­sion; defend­ing the nation­al­iza­tion of nat­ural resources; civil lib­er­ties for labor move­ments; edu­ca­tion; agrar­ian reform; free speech; and human rights and social jus­tice for the pop­u­lar classes.

On dis­play will be prints from “En Nom­bre de Cristo: Han Asesinado Mas de 200 Mae­stros (1939),” “450 años de lucha, Hom­e­naje al pueblo mex­i­cano (1960),” “!Viva Zap­ata! (1979),” and the “Con­fer­en­cia Lati­noamer­i­cana por la Sobera­nia Nacional (1961).”

The exhibit is curated by Theresa Avila, Ph.D. can­di­date, Depart­ment of Art and Art His­tory, UNM. Avila is cur­rently writ­ing her dis­ser­ta­tion “Chron­i­cles of Rev­o­lu­tion and Nation: El Taller de Grá­fica Popular’s ‘Las Estam­pas de la Rev­olu­ción Mexicana.’”

The exhibit, which is gen­er­ously funded by Inter-American Stud­ies in the Uni­ver­sity Library and the Latin Amer­i­can and Iber­ian Insti­tute, is on dis­play through July 13, 2012. It is free and open to the public.

Media con­tact: Karen Went­worth (505) 277‑5627; email: [e-mail]