Zapatista Mural
I was just in Chicago yesterday, and unfortunately didn't have the time to visit some of these Murals at the Latino Cultural Center. But as I was researching it, I came across this mural, The Zapatistas. Having the discussions about the Mexican Revolution and murals has really opened my eyes, and now I actually get something from looking at a mural/painting.
This mural is quite self-explanatory, especially to all of us because we have just gone over the information about the Revolution and Emiliano Zapata. There isn't a lot of information about this particular mural, so I am going to divulge into a short interpretation of some of the aspects in this mural.
The watch: I would think a timepiece would not be a very common object in a Zapatista's household, and the fact that is quite prominent in this mural is interesting. It may be because time was something that was important, yet not a huge aspect of their life. They didn't live on a schedule, but the timing of their attacks with the other Revolutionary leaders was what enabled them to win.
Notice in the lower right hand corner it looks like waves. Rough waves. The color is dark - navy blue. This color is also expanded into the upper right hand corner. This is a huge contrast to the seemingly bright blue sky in the left upper hand corner. Just by the way the painting is focused, it seems as if it is showing that the Zapatistas came from a stormy, tumultuous background, spurred on by their passion to have a voice. Their history is not a smooth ride, they struggled to survive as their lands were taken away. But there is hope in the future. Clear sky is ahead; smooth sailing.
What do you think the object in the lower left corner is? It's bright colors and "grin" just doesn't seem as if it fits in such a somber painting...
This is also a mural that I found intriguing.
El Corazon
It is a heart with flames that signify love and passion. According to some American Cultures, the fire in a heart drove warriors in battle, which is signified by the arrow.
Interesting observations! I agree that it’s fun to look at a piece of artwork and have an idea of what it’s about based on what you've learned in a class. Could you imagine looking at Rivera’s A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park at the beginning of last semester? We would have had no idea of what any of it was about, but recently we were able to identify many of the people in it and come up with the gist of the story/purpose of it. Honestly, I have no idea what is in the bottom left corner of The Zapatistas, but I agree it kind of seems out of place. I wanted to point out, however, the wavy green lines to the bottom left of the man’s face. These almost look like blades of grass, or some type of agricultural crop. I think that it’s no coincidence that this image is part of the man’s hand—the Zapatistas fought for land, and that land was part of who they were, and so I think that this part of the mural represents the land they were fighting for and its importance to them.
ReplyDeleteLeah! I love how you were able to find these murals that relate pretty much perfectly to our class. Major props to you. I think that your analysis is pretty much spot on. I would never thought to examine the changing hues of the blues, but now that you have pointed it out, it makes a lot of sense. Looking at the watch, I would also argue that it displays the extreme length of the revolution. It looks like the numbers are fading and being wiped away. This may be analogous of how the revolution dragged on. I feel as if the soldiers, due to this length, may have lost sight of what they were fighting for, as seen in "The Underdogs." And as Dr. Stark pointed out, do we honestly know when the revolution ended? I also think that the bright red outlining Zapata's face is important to the mural. When I see red I usually think of blood and death. It may be demonstrating the bloody toll that the Revolution had upon the people of Mexico. Zapata was the face of his people after-all. As for the bright creepy guy in the corner, I came up with nothing. I researched Mexican death gods, war gods, and agriculture gods and the closest image I came up with was
ReplyDeletehttp://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h270/MEXICAH/Mictlancihuatl-02.gif
This is an Aztec Saint of the Dead. It kind of reminded me of the figure in the corner but I do not think it is close enough. Sorry about that! Again, I really enjoyed your post!