Spanish 7: Murals in Mexico & U.S.
Winter 2017: Professor Douglas Moody
In this course, we have studied the works, styles, ideas, and lives of Los Tres Grandes, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. We analyzed how their masterpieces and other works, such as The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela, have influenced and have been influenced by the Mexican Revolution and the people in Mexico and the United States. Some areas that we study in the context of mural art are the authorization of art, race, the current state of affairs (Mexican Revolution, The Great Depression), location, and the censorship of art.
Final Research Paper
My topic for the final research paper is how the type of art in a community is determined by certain factors in the community itself, such as the location and socioeconomic status of the people living there. I will be analyzing the public art in University Avenue and California Avenue in Palo Alto and Clarion Alley in San Francisco.
Response Papers
Response Paper 1: I analyzed Panel 12: The Machine in José Clemente Orozco's mural The Epic of American Civilization, and how it conveys the effects of technology and its negative impacts on humanity.
Response Paper 2: Despite José Vasconcelos's idealistic opinion about the mestizo race, examples of white superiority over indigenous cultures can be found in Mariano Azuela's The Underdogs and José Clemente Orozco's murals.
Response Paper 3: The difference between the authorization of art by a private institution versus by the artist themselves is clearly seen through the public art at Clarion Alley, San Francisco, where nearly all the artists, such as Megan Wilson, fight for social and economic justice through their work.