Discussion 5: Revolutionary Mexican Artists

I think that in terms of pure output, Orozco was the most “revolutionary” of los tres grandes. Meaning that he created work that was the most effective in bringing about revolutionary thought and eventually action. While Rivera’s work was more openly political and firm in ideology, he lacked a clear revolutionary energy. Siqueiros, on the other hand, was plenty innovative and aggressive with his ideas, but he lacked coherence and dedication to any one idea. Orozco, however, managed to conquer both of these issues by refusing to pick a political dogma and instead taking the side of the constant individual revolutionary, criticizing every side. By virtue of not promoting any one idea, his work was far less easy to criticize, and much easier to listen to.

The murals Orozco painted often depicted several sides in tension, like in The Rebellion of Man and Hidalgo. In both of these murals, each side is depicted in chaos in his via negativa. His approach to the concepts of oppressor vs oppressed and tyranny vs revolution paralleled his treatment of the contrasting “ideal” and “reality”. His ideology stemmed from an version of libertarianism that drew from anarchy and valued the freedoms of the individual over the cause of any party. Because of this, he painted the time he lived in – a time of many parties dueling and fighting over different dogmas  –  as it was (chaos). His style works for this purpose; it’s a highly emotional aesthetic packed with energy, tension, motion, and bright colors that never fails to impact a viewer. Through a fiery and powerful aesthetic including heavy symbolism, he creates a disgust for the masses which ultimately inspires the only true revolution, which comes from individual independence of thought.