Exhibition- Gráficas Políticas: Mexican Prints, 1900-1950

Exhibition- Gráficas Políticas: Mexican Prints, 1900-1950

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston has been a proponent of the exposure of “Latin American Art”. Their new show Gráficas Políticas: Mexican Prints, 1900-1950 tries to grasp at the tradition of print making in Mexico. After the Mexican Revolution, art became the most important medium of expression of concerns of the time. Printmaking in Mexico belongs to a period of drastic change. Where prints were use as flyers, in newspapers, and pamphlets to instruct a mass audience. However, the selection and scarce amount of work make the exhibition rather flat.

Gráficas Políticas: Mexican Prints, 1900-1950 shows about 12 prints of a variety of artists, with some important names in the graphics, like Juan Guadalupe Posada. His work is striking. But unfortunately we can only appreciate three pieces of work. The majority of the pieces fail to portray the spirit of propaganda and social realism. There seem to be a predilection of the image of the skeleton. Rather than showing work that follows a tradition, without turning it into a form of celebration for El Día de los Muertos. The exhibition’s flatness relies in its superficiality and lack of context.

My favorites:



“Political Ventriloquist”
Leópoldo Mendez 1942




“Calavera of the Bum”
José Guadalupe Posada 1910