muralismo

One of my classes focuses on looking at Mexican identity through the study of murals (in Spanish, "muralismo") - in particular, the works of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. We saw lots of murals in DF and Guadalajara, and next week we'll be taking excursions to check out the murals here in Morelia.

Here's the work I'm going to write my essay about: Nuestra Imagen Actual by Siqueiros. This was painted near the end of period we're studying (1922-1947), in which muralists were strongly supported by the state. It's actually not a mural but a painting of a man with a stone for a head, opening his hands as if asking for something. It seems to me to be Siqueiros' response to 25 years of muralists exploring the question of Mexican identity. So, this is what I'm going to be pondering for the next few days...