California State University, Los Angeles
Music Hall
April 12-13, 2019
April 12-13, 2019
Sponsored by Cal State LA’s Office of the
President, Office of the Provost, the Gigi Gaucher-Morales Memorial
Conferences, the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Natural and Social
Sciences, the Department of Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, and the Emeriti
Association.
April 13, 2019
This Conference is Free and Open to the
Public
Cal
State L.A. Map Website:
José Clemente Orozco, “Hidalgo” (Guadalajara, Palacio de Gobierno, 1937)
Remembered as the iconic los tres grandes in Mexico’s pictorial movement
that surged after the 1910 Revolution, José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949), Diego
Rivera (1886-1957), and David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) were in fact artists
with an international vision who periodically visited, or lived for long
periods of time, in France, Italy, Spain, the former U.S.S.R, and the United
States. It was in major U.S. cities--Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and, among
others, San Francisco--where all three undertook mural projects whose artistic
importance continues to receive scholarly attention to this day, with recent comprehensive studies superbly illustrated in Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism,
1910-1950, ed. Renato González Mello, et al. (2016). The “three great ones” are conventionally
remembered, however, as the expression of Mexico’s post-revolutionary
nationalism, and as artists whose murals achieved their own moments of public
acclaim, monumental scale, and--after 1940--an alleged artistic and ideological
obsolescence in Mexico as well as abroad due to the association of muralist art with socialist realism. The historical necessity of such views can be explained in light of the Cold
War, the growing fears of communist “meddling” in the internal politics of
Mexico and the United States, and the ensuing politicization of the arts (“socialist
realism” versus modernism). It
was in this belligerent historical context that Mexican muralists lived,
dreamed, and painted the western democratic and socialist utopias according to
very personal and contrasting views, flawed at times by the selfsame
contradictions that defined the tensions and political aspirations of the twentieth century. The murals of Orozco, Rivera and Siqueiros
acquire a different and more compelling significance when viewed and analyzed
in relation to their distinct individual aesthetics, their lives, and their
times, thus erasing from our critical discourse an alleged “outmoded” or
“socialist” realism that was prone to propaganda and to a Party-line
representation of reality in the work of these Mexican masters. A lesson for
our era: the political and pictorial choices of los tres grandes were an integral part of the twentieth century
and, in terms of the irony, satire, and dissent in their murals—above all in
Orozco and Rivera—a lasting inspiration for our own unsettling times.
The 2019 Conference on Mexican muralists includes six keynote and featured speakers, one Frida Kahlo performance by actress Alejandra Flores, two sessions on conference related topics, and one new book presentation. To view the speakers' biographies and lecture abstracts, or to go over the session abstracts, scroll down the online conference program. For questions on the conference, contact Dr. Roberto Cantú at rcantu@calstatela.edu
The 2019 Conference on Mexican muralists includes six keynote and featured speakers, one Frida Kahlo performance by actress Alejandra Flores, two sessions on conference related topics, and one new book presentation. To view the speakers' biographies and lecture abstracts, or to go over the session abstracts, scroll down the online conference program. For questions on the conference, contact Dr. Roberto Cantú at rcantu@calstatela.edu
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
José Clemente Orozco, “Dive Bomber and Tank” (New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1940)
Friday, April 12
Registration (free admission)
8:30-9:00 A.M.
Music Hall
California State University, Los Angeles
INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME
9:00-9:30 A.M.
Music Hall
The Conference Organizing Team
 |
| Left to Right: Martina ("Marty") Aleman, Richard Perez, Sara Gonzalez |
 |
| Richard Perez (CLS Alumnus) |
 |
| Marty aleman (CLS Alumna) and Sara Gonzalez (MLL Alumna) |
 |
| Sara Gonzalez and Steven Trujillo (LAS Alumnus) |
(With Marty)
(With Dr. Valerie Talavera-Bustillos, my office mate)
 |
| With CLS colleagues and students, L to R: Dr. Valerie Talavera-Bustillos, Dr. Michael Soldatenko, Marty Aleman, Velia Murillo (CLS Administrative Support Coordinator), Dr. Dolores Delgado Bernal (Chair), Dr. Alejandro Covarrubias (CLS), Linda Rodriguez (CLS Alumna), and Richard Perez (CLS Alumnus). |
THE CONFERENCE BEGINS
Friday, April 12
9:30-10:45 A.M.
9:30-10:45 A.M.
Music Hall
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Renato González-Mello
Instituto
de Investigaciones Estéticas
Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México
Title of Lecture:
Mural Painting:
Art and Propaganda
Moderator:
Roberto Cantú
California
State University, Los Angeles
Friday, April 12
11:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M.
11:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M.
Music Hall
Featured Speaker
Dr. Mary K. Coffey
Department of Art History
Dartmouth College
Title of Lecture:
José Clemente Orozco
And the Epic of “Greater America”
Moderator:
Steven Trujillo
California State University, Los Angeles
Luncheon Break: 12:30-2:00 P.M.
Friday, April 12
2:00-3:15 P.M.
2:00-3:15 P.M.
Music Hall
Featured Speaker
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
Title of Lecture:
Mexican Muralism:
Art and Philosophy
Moderator:
Juan Carlos Parrilla
California
State University, Los Angeles
Plenary Session #1
Friday, April 12
3:30-5:00 P.M.
3:30-5:00 P.M.
Music Hall
 |
| Cristobal Palma |
Moderator: Cristóbal Palma, California
State University, Los Angeles
Panelists:
 |
| Dr Dafne Cruz Porchini |
1. “Diego Rivera y las
fuentes visuales del segundo ciclo mural de la Secretaría de Educación Pública
(1926-1928)”
Dr. Dafne Cruz Porchini, Instituto
de Investigaciones Estéticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Dr. Georgina Garcia Gutierrez
2. “Carlos Fuentes, la
novela y el muralismo: puntualización.”
Dr. Georgina García Gutiérrez
Vélez, Centro de Estudios
Literarios del Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
3. “El Ateneo muralista”
 |
| Dr. Fernando Curiel Defosse' |
Dr. Fernando Curiel Defossé, Departamento de Humanidades (Chair), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Friday, April 12
5:10-6:00 P.M.
5:10-6:00 P.M.
Music Hall
New Book Presentation
A Scholiast’s Quill:
New Critical Essays on Alfonso Reyes (2019)
Moderator: Dr. Georgina García
Gutiérrez Vélez
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Editor and
Contributors:
1. “‘A Friend in Foreign Lands’: The Friendship of
Alfonso Reyes and Werner Jaeger”
Dr. Stanley Burstein, California State University, Los Angeles
Dr. Stanley Burstein, California State University, Los Angeles
2. Dr. Roberto Cantú
(editor), California State University, Los Angeles
3. “Junta de sombras”
Dr. Fernando
Curiel Defossé, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
4. “Ultima Tule: Cosmopolitan Networks and the Idea of America in Alfonso Reyes”
Dr. Gorica Majstorovic, Stockton
University, New Jersey
SATURDAY,
APRIL 13
Saturday, April 13
9:30-10:45 A.M.
9:30-10:45 A.M.
Music Hall
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Alicia Azuela de la Cueva
Instituto
de Investigaciones Estéticas
Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México
Title of Lecture:
El Muralismo y el
Estado:
Acciones e
interacciones,
México 1921-1956
Moderator:
Roberto Cantú
California
State University, Los Angeles
Saturday, April 13
11:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M.
11:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M.
Music Hall
Featured Speaker
Dr. Jennifer Jolly
Department of Art History
Ithaca
College
Title of Lecture:
David Alfaro
Siqueiros
And the Aesthetics
of Conflict in the 1930s
Moderator:
Steven Trujillo
California
State University, Los Angeles
Luncheon
Break: 12:30-1:30 P.M.
Saturday, April 13
1:45-3:00 P.M.
1:45-3:00 P.M.
Music Hall
Featured Speaker
Dr. Leonard Folgarait
Distinguished Professor of History of Art
Distinguished Professor of History of Art
Vanderbilt University
Title of Lecture:
Tina Modotti
And Manuel Álvarez Bravo:
Defining Mexico Through Photography
Moderator:
Cristóbal Palma
California State University, Los Angeles
Plenary Session #2
Saturday, April 13
3:15-4:45 P.M.
3:15-4:45 P.M.
Music Hall
Moderator: Dr. Deborah Conway de Prieto, California State University, Los Angeles
Panelists:
1. “Las que no pintan murales: El otro movimiento artístico o el otro modo de ver”
Dr. Iliana Alcántar, Reed College
Dr. Iliana Alcántar, Reed College
2. “Orozco’s Apocalypse: The Christ of Dartmouth and the Man of Fire”
Dr. Manuel Aguilar-Moreno, California State University, Los Angeles
3. “Avant-garde Cuts: New Interpretations of Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals”
Dr. Goriça Majstorovic, Stockton University, New Jersey
4. “A Re-Vision of Diego Rivera's Final Mural in Mexico City, titled The History of Medicine in
Mexico: The People's Demand for Better Health” (1953).
Gabriela Rodríguez-Gómez, Graduate Student/Chicano Studies, University of
California, Los Angeles
Saturday, April 13
5:00-6:00 P.M.
5:00-6:00 P.M.
Music Hall
Alejandra Flores
Founder and Artistic Director
Of The Los Angeles Theatre Academy
Title of Performance:
I am Frida Kahlo
Seven monologues, dramatized by renowned Mexican actress
Alejandra Flores, in which Frida narrates
her "true story" based on five of her
self-portraits and photographs.
Seven monologues, dramatized by renowned Mexican actress
Alejandra Flores, in which Frida narrates
her "true story" based on five of her
self-portraits and photographs.
 |
| Alejandra Flores and Beatriz Eugenia Vasquez |
 |
| Beatriz Eugenia Vasquez and Reynaldo Santiago |
ALL CONFERENCE PHOTOS BY
MICHAEL CERVANTES (CAL STATE LA ALUMNUS)
A "Selfie" with my colleague Dr. Deborah Conway de Prieto,
saying farewell to all conference participants.
--END OF CONFERENCE--
Keynote and Featured Speakers
(In Alphabetical Order)
Keynote Speakers
Dra. Alicia Azuela de la Cueva
Instituto de
Investigaciones Estéticas
Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Title of Lecture:
El Muralismo y el Estado:
Acciones e interacciones,
México 1921-1956
El Muralismo y el Estado:
Acciones e interacciones,
México 1921-1956
Muralism, as an essential component of the “Mexican Renaissance,” has
been explained since its initial manifestation in relation to the 1910 armed
conflict. The concept itself of a cultural and social rebirth after the Mexican
Revolution originated within the founding process and consolidation of the new
political order. During the Mexican Revolution and even in the midst of the armed insurgence—from
1910 to approximately 1921—artists, university faculty, and intellectuals
established alliances with rising government groups that in the post-revolutionary
phase opened productive spaces for them to participate institutionally, from
within their own fields of specialization, in the reconstruction of the nation.
Such alliances created, on the one hand, the legal mechanisms that would insure
the inclusion not only of art but also of culture in government programs; on
the other hand, such coalitions also affirmed the conception of a visual arts discourse
that would explain the importance and main aspects of the role played by a
generation of artists in the preservation and the teaching of cultural and
artistic creation. In my lecture I shall
make reference to the most representative moments that marked the interaction
between groups of political power and those with artistic renown, and the manner in which art murals
themselves represented the dynamics of such interactions in which more often than not it was possible to retain the
power hold of one group in their artistic production, as well as in the
interaction of artists with the State. My lecture will cover from 1921, the
date of the first mural, to 1956, a year that marks the natíon’s economic
blossoming under the model of the Benefactor State, and its initiatives in a
series of public works that posed new directions for Mexican muralism. This lecture
will be delivered in Spanish.
Dra. Alicia Azuela de la
Cueva is
a tenured researcher in the Instituto de
Investigaciones Estéticas, and is affiliated with the graduate program in
History of Art at UNAM. She holds a doctorate in Social Sciences from the Colegio de Michoacán. Her main research
interest is on the performance of
symbolic power by means of the image and imaginaries meant for the creation,
the practice, and the conservation of the spaces of dominion by the nation’s
governing centers. Other research interests include the role played by the coresponding
plastic arts, including the visual and lexical discourses that construct the
imaginary that contributes to the creation of a political order in the Nation
State. Dr. Azuela has published on Mexican public art, on Mural painting; on
aesthetic education; plastic and spatial arts in civic commemorations; and on
the transcultural and diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States
in the post-Revolutionary phase. She is
an active member in the Red Columnaria,
and directs projects relative to exiles, Hispanophilia, history, and memory. Among
her most recent publications: Dos miradas un objeto: ensayos sobre trasculturalidad
en la etapa posrevolucionaria, México 1920-1930; Arte y poder, renacimiento artístico y revolución social, México
1910-1945; and has edited (with Carmen González Martínez) México y España: Huellas Contemporáneas.
Resimbolización, Imaginarios, Iconoclasia; México: 200 años de imágenes
e imaginarios cívicos; and La
mirada, transculturalidad e imaginarios del México revolucionario 1910-1945,” with Guillermo
Palacios as co-editor. Dr. Azuela is a member of the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias; of the Asociación de Historiadores Latinoamericanistas Europeos (AHILA);
and of the Editorial Committee in the Universidad
de Murcia (Spain).
Dr. Renato González Mello
Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Title
of Lecture:
Mural Painting:
Art and Propaganda
It is often assumed that
political propaganda reproduces the contents of a political discourse. This
does not always happen in mural paintings. My lecture will analyze four cases
involving different murals that implemented dissimilar functions among
themselves. I will examine the notion of “propaganda” generally associated with
Mexican mural painting. This point of view, oftentimes brandished as a
criticism, presumes the existence of a discursive field that is continuous or
free of contradictions. My lecture will attempt to clarify differences and
nuances, and will include the examination of different cycles of mural
painting, their inner contradictions, and the contradictions of the ideology
with which mural artists engaged dialogically. I will focus my lecture on Diego
Rivera’s murals in the Palacio Nacional
de México; the murals in Mexico City’s schools done by a younger
generation; those created by David Alfaro Siqueiros in different buildings; by
Rufino Tamayo in the Museo de las
Culturas; and, to clarify through contrast, the art decorations by Manuel Felguérez in the Museo Nacional de Antropología. My intent is to demonstrate that the relation
between murals and the State’s ideology was as problematic as the selfsame
official rhetoric. Mexico’s
post-revolutionary State aimed to organize the dissimilar ideological
tendencies, and not necessarily to only monopolize the political field. Understood
as such, mural art turned into a system of negotiations. This does not mean
that painting did not have an aesthetic dimension. On the contrary: the effectiveness of mural
art went hand in hand with the construction of an aesthetic scheme that
responded to the fissures and unfilled spaces of the political discourse. I
will propose a notion of “propaganda” that emerges from the empty spaces in a
political discourse, and not only from its contents. This lecture will be in English.
Dr. Renato González Mello. Mexican
Citizen. BA in History and Ph.D. with honors in Art History at the Facultad de Filosofía y
Letras (UNAM, Mexico's National University). Full-time
definitive Researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas (UNAM) since 1992. Level II in the Sistema
Nacional de Investigadores. Areas of interest: Modern Mexican painting,
focusing on mural painting and the works of José Clemente Orozco. Has published
works on the Mexican political iconography during the twentieth century, on the relation between Mexican Architecture, Education and Arts, and on the
material analysis of artwork. Currently interested in images of violence as
well as on the criteria to catalog the cultural patrimony. Has published La máquina de pintar: Rivera, Orozco y la
invención de un lenguaje emblemas, trofeos y cadáveres. México,
IIE-UNAM (2008); Orozco, ¿pintor
revolucionario?. México: IIE-UNAM (1995); la coordinación de los libros y
catálogos José Clemento Orozco in the
United States. New York: Hood Museum of Art (2002); Encauzar la mirada: arquitectura, pedagogía e imágenes en México,
1920-1950. México: UNAM-IIE, (2010); together with Anthony Michael Stanton, Vanguardia en México 1915-1940, México,
MUNAL (2013); and Paint the Revolution! (2016), with Matthew Affron, Mark Castro and Dafne Cruz, for the Philadelphia
Museum of Art. Has published 12 articles, 34 book chapters, 29 reviews and 21
papers in specialized colloquiums. Teaches at UNAM
since 1991, both graduate and undergraduate courses in History and Art History.
Has been advisor to 22 undergraduate dissertations, 13 Master’s dissertations
and four Ph.D. thesis. Has been visiting professor at various Mexican
universities and higher education institutions, El Colegio de México among
them. Visiting professor at Columbia University, with an Edward Laroque Tinker
fellowship in 2007. Chair of the Graduate Program in Art History, UNAM,
2008-2010; appointed Director of the Instituto
de Investigaciones Estéticas by UNAM’s Junta
de Gobierno, 2010-2014; confirmed 2014-2018. Member of Mexico’s Academia de Artes since 2014.
Featured Speakers
(in alphabetical order)
Dr. Mary K. Coffey
Department of Art History
Dartmouth College
Title of Lecture:
José Clemente Orozco
and the Epic of “Greater America"
José Clemente Orozco
and the Epic of “Greater America"
In this talk Professor Coffey
will situate José Clemente Orozco’s The Epic of American
Civilization (1932-34) within debates over the American epic in the
1930s. In particular, she will demonstrate how Orozco deliberately counters the
popularization of Manifest Destiny ideology through the structure and subject
matter of his mural. By reading Orozco’s continental vision of the Americas as
complementary to period attempts to reorient the frontier thesis of American
history toward the Spanish borderlands, she argues that Orozco’s mural should
be understood as a transnational artifact that exploits a Mexican standpoint to
reflect critically upon the US American “anti-empire.” By attending closely to
Orozco’s rendering of the so-called “two Americas," she explores the way
that Orozco troubles the immunitary discourse of “Anglo-American"
community and its role in the violent bordering that has constituted
“Hispano-America” as both foreign and dangerous. Her talk will not only
resituate Mexican muralism within U.S. American debates over history and
identity, but also suggest the many ways Orozco’s Epic speaks
to our contemporary political moment and the radical politics of Latinidad.
Dr. Mary K. Coffey is Associate Professor of Art History at
Dartmouth College where she is also affiliated faculty with the Programs in
Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality
Studies. She has published widely on Mexican muralism and the transnational
politics of exhibitions of Mexican artes populares.
Her first book, How
a Revolutionary Art Became Official Culture: Murals, Museums, and the Mexican
State (Duke 2012) explored the reciprocal relationship between mural
art and post-revolutionary museology in Mexico. It won the College Art
Association’s Charles Rufus Morey Prize for a Distinguished Book in Art History
in 2012. Her forthcoming book, Orozco’s
American Epic: Myth, History, and the Melancholy of Race (Duke,
2019/20) is the first monographic study of José Clemente Orozco’s mural cycle, The Epic of American
Civilization, at Dartmouth College. In addition to these two monographs,
Professor Coffey has also co-edited an anthology on global modernism and
contributed to numerous exhibitions on Mexican art, including the recent Paint the Revolution (Philadelphia
Museum of Art, 2016), and Prometheus 2017 (Pomona
College, 2017, part of the Getty Research Center’s LA/LA initiative). She will
also be a contributor to the forthcoming exhibition on Diego Rivera at the
SFMOMA.
Dr. Leonard Folgarait
Distinguished Professor of History of Art
Vanderbilt University
Title of Lecture:
Distinguished Professor of History of Art
Vanderbilt University
Title of Lecture:
Tina
Modotti
and Manuel Álvarez Bravo:
and Manuel Álvarez Bravo:
Defining Mexico Through
Photography
In
the 1920s and 1930s, Mexico was deeply involved in asking questions of its
Nationhood after the violent ten-year civil war following the Revolution of
1910. During this critical period of
national self-analysis, two important artists, Tina Modotti and Manuel Álvarez
Bravo, were also conducting a serious study of Mexican character, personal and
political, through the unique properties of their medium: photography. It is important to study Mexico at this time
through the eyes of photographers, as the dominant art medium of the time was,
of course, the mural paintings that were covering vast surfaces of public
buildings with super-charged imagery that reacted to these convulsive
times. Photography, by contrast, much
smaller, portable, black and white, was distributed in much different ways,
sometimes by the mass media.
Photography, different than painting, also allows for a balance between
its mechanical objectivity, its documentary “truth,” against its abilities to
manipulate the imagery as much as any other medium for poetic expression. How
Modotti and Álvarez Bravo navigate these properties and turn them into tools
for a deep visual study of Mexico at this time will make for interesting
comparisons to how the muralists achieve their images.
Dr. Leonard Folgarait is Distinguished Professor of History of Art at
Vanderbilt University, where he has served as Chair of the Department of
History of Art. His areas of teaching and research are the modern art of Latin
America, with a specialization in the twentieth-century art of Mexico, and
modern European and American art and architecture. Special interests are: the
relationship of art to politics, early cubism, surrealism, performance art,
film, photography, and historiography. He has published three books on modern
Mexican art: So Far From Heaven: David Alfaro Siqueiros' "The March of
Humanity" and Mexican Revolutionary Politics (Cambridge University
Press, 1987); Mural Painting and Social
Revolution in Mexico, 1920-1940, Art of the New Order (Cambridge University
Press, 1998); and Seeing Mexico
Photographed: the Work of Horne, Casasola, Modotti and Álvarez Bravo, 2008 (Yale
University Press); and one on Pablo Picasso, plus edited
or co-edited three anthologies. His
articles have appeared in journals such as Oxford
Art Journal, Arts Magazine, Art History, Works and Days, and Quintana.
Dr. Héctor
Jaimes
North Carolina State University
Title of Lecture:
Mexican Muralism:
Art
and Philosophy
Mexican muralism is one of the most
transcendental art movements in Latin America. Its transcendence lies not only
in the great legacy of works, but also in the creation of a public, monumental
and political art of unprecedented proportions in the history of art. At the
same time, the Mexican muralist movement addressed important cultural issues of
Mexican society. It is not surprising then that the legacy would spark the
interest of a broad audience, and remains to date a subject of intense study
and debate. However, studies on Mexican muralism have typically approached the
topic from the angle of the art critic or art historian, seldom from a pure
theoretical and philosophical perspective. My lecture will address the philosophical
tenets of Mexican muralism and how it impacted this movement as a whole. The
lecture will be further enriched by comments and analyses of murals by Orozco,
Rivera, and Siqueiros.
Dr. Héctor Jaimes is Professor of Latin American literature and culture at North Carolina State University. He specializes in Mexican Studies and the Latin American essay. He is the author of La filosofía del muralismo mexicano (2012), and La reescritura de la historia en el ensayo hispanoamericano (2001). He has also edited several books: You Are Always with Me: Letters to Mama by Frida Kahlo (2018); The Mexican Crack Writers: History and Criticism (2017); Fundación del muralismo mexicano by David A. Siqueiros (2012); and Octavio Paz: La dimensión estética del ensayo (2004).
Dr. Jennifer Jolly
Department of Art History
Ithaca College
Title of Lecture:
David Alfaro Siqueiros
and the Aesthetics of Conflict in the 1930s
David Alfaro Siqueiros
and the Aesthetics of Conflict in the 1930s
In the 1930s Mexican muralist
David Alfaro Siqueiros sought to explore new forms that could represent the political
conflicts that dominated the period internationally. This talk will
explore the ways in which Siqueiros’ mural for the Mexican Electricians’
Syndicate gave form to the decade of the 1930s, from its use of montage and
perspective as a symbolic form, to its engagement with the international
leftist artistic culture of the period.
Dr. Jennifer Jolly is Professor of Art History at Ithaca College, where she teaches
courses on Latin American Art, ancient through contemporary. She
researches the art and politics of 1930s Mexico, and has published on David
Alfaro Siqueiros and Josep Renau in the Oxford Art Journal and
various edited volumes. In 2015, she curated an exhibit on collecting and
exhibiting Pre-Columbian Art in the mid-20th century, "As They Saw It: The
Easby Collection of Pre-Columbian Art." The recipient of multiple
Fulbright-García Robles Fellowships, she completed her book, Creating
Pátzcuaro, Creating Mexico: Art, Tourism, and Nation Building under Lázaro
Cárdenas (Texas, 2018), with the support of a National Endowment for the
Humanities research grant. Her current research is on race and
representation in Mexico, with particular attention to representations of
Afro-Mexicans.
“I cry. I cry with joy because I know that I will soon be in your arms. Savoring your clitoris and your erect penis satisfying my desire. I cry of pain for my wounds, of impotence for not winning my wars, of bitterness for not penetrating your heart and I cry more because I know that your kisses will not know me, nor your saliva will calm this fire that consumes me and puts me on the edge of the abyss.”
Featured Actor and Theater Director
Alejandra Flores
Founder and Artistic Director
Of The Los Angeles Theatre Academy
Title of Performance:
Title of Performance:
I Am Frida Kahlo
Written by
Froylán Cabuto
Original music
written by Otto Cifuentes
Performers:
Frida Kahlo by Alejandra Flores
Death Frida (alter ego) by dancer Beatriz Eugenia
Vásquez
Diego Rivera by Reynaldo Santiago
Diego Rivera by Reynaldo Santiago
Synopsis of Performance
The art performing piece is based on seven original monologues on
Frida Kahlo titled, “I am Frida Kahlo.” These monologues bring Frida to life,
where she narrates her “true story,” and describes five of her most well-known
self-portraits including two photographs charged with social and political
commentaries. The manuscript is originally written in Spanish.
The monologues are written in poetic prose style. The main
objective is to recreate Frida’s life in a nonlinear structure. Therefore,
readers can read the manuscript in any order, and each story would stand by
itself.
“I am Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo and Calderón
and this is the true story of my life. This is my journal, the one you are
reading and the one nobody knows. The one that I wrote in my deathbed and that
I have etched in my mind. The one I remember word by word even after death,
although I was really dead since I was six years old.”
The monologues are charged with social and political subtexts. The
following extract is from the monologue “A Few Snips.” Frida Kahlo painted this
canvas when she was dealing with Diego Rivera’s infidelity with her sister
Cristina. The motive that inspired Frida Kahlo to do this painting was the
murder of a woman that she read about in the newspaper, in which a man killed
her wife because the wife was supposedly unfaithful.
“Most of you know the story of why I
painted this picture. You know that a motherfucker stabbed his helpless wife
because he simply had the brutal strength to do it. A brute force was all he
had because he was brainless like many bastards that still populate the planet.
All of them are animals with misogynistic ideas. They exist everywhere, and
many are in political offices and even in presidencies. How awful!”
The monologues also explore Frida’s inability to have children in
the monologue “Henry Ford Hospital.” Frida describes in detail her frustration,
and also the desire of the possibility that one day she would be able to
conceive. Frida Kahlo painted “Henry Ford Hospital” in 1932 to capture the pain
that she suffered when she had her first documented miscarriage.
“I was able to survive the accident in
which my body collided with its destiny, and I was willing to go through it
again if it would have allowed me to have a child; it would have been the price
to pay. It feels that life is leaving like a breath of air when your legs
cannot hold the stream of blood that slides like silk. I wanted to grasp my son
with my hands and it felt as if a thousand knives were tearing my heart and my
son was escaping between my fingers. The silence of the night becomes deaf and
the darkness suddenly is blind. You are stunned staring into the void like a
soulless puppet. You feel the cold of the summer heat that dries every drop of
sweat that appears on your cheeks until you stay suspended in time caressing
the possibility of someday being a mother.”
Similarly, Frida talks about her bisexuality in a very subtle way
in one of the monologues, “The Broken Column.”
“I cry. I cry with joy because I know that I will soon be in your arms. Savoring your clitoris and your erect penis satisfying my desire. I cry of pain for my wounds, of impotence for not winning my wars, of bitterness for not penetrating your heart and I cry more because I know that your kisses will not know me, nor your saliva will calm this fire that consumes me and puts me on the edge of the abyss.”
In addition, Frida indirectly criticizes art critics that write
unconstructive theories of her art and life, which sometimes lack fundamentals.
At times critics extract passages from Frida’s diary and make conjectures out
of context. One clear example is about her death. Frida Kahlo’s last diary
entry reads as follow: "I hope the exit is joyful and I hope never to
return." Frida Kahlo wrote this entry when she left the hospital the last
time she was hospitalized. The translation in English seems to indicate that
Frida committed suicide. However, the Spanish version is ambiguous, or it is
not that clear in that regard.
“I did not not kill myself, idiot!" I was not that stupid to have killed myself. It was death that wanted it. I know that some of the sons of bitches have said, as they suspect, that I had guzzled from the bottle of tequila, or overdose on drugs, or pills or some other stupid conjectures. The thing is that they don’t know what bullshit to make up about me to make themselves famous, because they can’t do it for themselves, they lack imagination, imbeciles! They want to be celebrated through my pain, of my most intimate moment of my life and I did not want to share with anyone, not even with my Diego. So, I went alone without the help of anyone so that later they would not be giving details of my agony. But at the end, it was of no use at all.”
“I did not not kill myself, idiot!" I was not that stupid to have killed myself. It was death that wanted it. I know that some of the sons of bitches have said, as they suspect, that I had guzzled from the bottle of tequila, or overdose on drugs, or pills or some other stupid conjectures. The thing is that they don’t know what bullshit to make up about me to make themselves famous, because they can’t do it for themselves, they lack imagination, imbeciles! They want to be celebrated through my pain, of my most intimate moment of my life and I did not want to share with anyone, not even with my Diego. So, I went alone without the help of anyone so that later they would not be giving details of my agony. But at the end, it was of no use at all.”
And so on, in every monologue, Frida becomes her
own an art critic of her paintings. She also explores her personal life she
experienced at the time she painted her work of art. The writer totally
recreates a fictional story taking Frida’s place at the moment she executed the
painting.
Alejandra Flores has appeared in more than 40 theatrical productions. She received a Drama –Logue Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theater. Her most important film credits include: Friends with Money (2006) & A Walk in the Clouds (1995). Television credits include Switched at Birth, Sons of Anarchy, ER and Nip/Tuck. Has directed major theatrical productions like Too Many Tamales, Blood Wedding for Cal State LA and Aguila Real at Occidental College. Hosted and produced the Community Affairs show Foro 22 on KWHY-TV. Has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Conservatory of Theatre (CUT) at UNAM. She was the Artist-in-Residence (AIR) and the prestigious individual COLA award from the DCA 2008-09. She is the Founder /Artistic Director of The Los Angeles Theatre Academy.
Froylán Cabuto is the winner of Premio Gabriela Mistral, Premio Ignacio R. M. Galbis, John & Suanne Roueche Excellence Award, among others. He is an intuitive writer, director, song writer, and actor originally from Nayarit, Mexico. I Am Frida Kahlo marks Froylán's second art performance. In addition, Froylán is a published poet committed to social and political issues that affect today’s society. Froylán’s credits as a screenplay writer include: 116 Seconds, He in Her Skin, Ruby (a film for Current TV, 2008), Soy Soldado (Iraq), and Muted Voices. Froylán has garnered the following awards as a filmmaker: Swiss Cultural Programme’s Best Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival (2008); Special Selection for Un Choix en Moins de 6 Minutes at the Cannes Film Festival (2008); Cinema of Conscience Award, Sonoma Film Festival 2008; Silver Palm Award, Mexico International Film Festival 2009. Froylán earned a Bachelor's, and a Master’s Degree at California State University, Los Angeles in Spanish Literature & Linguistics. He currently heads the Modern Language Department at Cerritos College in Norwalk, California.
Beaatriz Eugenia Vásquez is a multifaceted dancer, choreographer, coach, and dance instructor, born in Bogotá, Colombia. She studied at The Joffrey Ballet School in New York, and with world-known teachers and coaches. Subsequently, Beatriz was the recipient of The International GVII Award as well as of The Excellence Award by Festival De La Calle 8 in Los Angeles. She is an Alumna of the prestigious Director’s Lab West 2016. In addition, Beatriz has danced and choreographed for Vocal Recording and Visual Artists. She has toured and performed with world-famous Tap Choreographer and Dancer Chester Whitmore at the Musical International Museum in Arizona, The Ford Theatre, and Los Angeles Metro.
Reynaldo Santiago was born in Hollywood, California. He is a versatile dancer with numerous styles that include Popping, Locking, Tap, Salsa, and Modern Dance, to name a few. Santiago started his journey in movement through martial arts training in Northern Shaolin Kung Fu for more than ten years. In addition, he has danced in numerous music videos for artists such as It's Hot As Sun, Capital Cities, and Pharrell Williams. Reynaldo has performed at the Ford Theatre, LA LIVE Dark Nights, The Musical Instrument Museum in Arizona, The Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Festival De La Calle 8, The Pico Rivera Sports Arena, Cabaret Tango, Highways Performance Art Space, Los Angeles Theatre Center, LA Times Festival of Books, Lotus Festival, and many more. Reynaldo Santiago currently dances with 3-19 Dance Art company.
1. “Orozco’s
Apocalypse: The Christ of Dartmouth and the Man of Fire”
Manuel Aguilar-Moreno, California State University, Los Angeles
In 1934, Orozco painted a mural cycle about the evolution of the American Civilization in which it is dominated by the power of a new technological order. This new political establishment causes the destruction of the world and the human beings kill each other. At the end, the resurrected Christ appears in anger because there are no humans to save; so his whole mission becomes meaningless and he destroys his own cross. Thus, the divine plan is doomed and God’s creation of humanity was a failure. In Orozco’s pessimistic vision of History, humanity commits suicide and there is no redemption for the human beings.
2. “Las que no pintan murales: El otro movimiento artístico o el otro modo de ver”
Biographies
Alejandra Flores has appeared in more than 40 theatrical productions. She received a Drama –Logue Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theater. Her most important film credits include: Friends with Money (2006) & A Walk in the Clouds (1995). Television credits include Switched at Birth, Sons of Anarchy, ER and Nip/Tuck. Has directed major theatrical productions like Too Many Tamales, Blood Wedding for Cal State LA and Aguila Real at Occidental College. Hosted and produced the Community Affairs show Foro 22 on KWHY-TV. Has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Conservatory of Theatre (CUT) at UNAM. She was the Artist-in-Residence (AIR) and the prestigious individual COLA award from the DCA 2008-09. She is the Founder /Artistic Director of The Los Angeles Theatre Academy.
Froylán Cabuto is the winner of Premio Gabriela Mistral, Premio Ignacio R. M. Galbis, John & Suanne Roueche Excellence Award, among others. He is an intuitive writer, director, song writer, and actor originally from Nayarit, Mexico. I Am Frida Kahlo marks Froylán's second art performance. In addition, Froylán is a published poet committed to social and political issues that affect today’s society. Froylán’s credits as a screenplay writer include: 116 Seconds, He in Her Skin, Ruby (a film for Current TV, 2008), Soy Soldado (Iraq), and Muted Voices. Froylán has garnered the following awards as a filmmaker: Swiss Cultural Programme’s Best Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival (2008); Special Selection for Un Choix en Moins de 6 Minutes at the Cannes Film Festival (2008); Cinema of Conscience Award, Sonoma Film Festival 2008; Silver Palm Award, Mexico International Film Festival 2009. Froylán earned a Bachelor's, and a Master’s Degree at California State University, Los Angeles in Spanish Literature & Linguistics. He currently heads the Modern Language Department at Cerritos College in Norwalk, California.
Beaatriz Eugenia Vásquez is a multifaceted dancer, choreographer, coach, and dance instructor, born in Bogotá, Colombia. She studied at The Joffrey Ballet School in New York, and with world-known teachers and coaches. Subsequently, Beatriz was the recipient of The International GVII Award as well as of The Excellence Award by Festival De La Calle 8 in Los Angeles. She is an Alumna of the prestigious Director’s Lab West 2016. In addition, Beatriz has danced and choreographed for Vocal Recording and Visual Artists. She has toured and performed with world-famous Tap Choreographer and Dancer Chester Whitmore at the Musical International Museum in Arizona, The Ford Theatre, and Los Angeles Metro.
Reynaldo Santiago was born in Hollywood, California. He is a versatile dancer with numerous styles that include Popping, Locking, Tap, Salsa, and Modern Dance, to name a few. Santiago started his journey in movement through martial arts training in Northern Shaolin Kung Fu for more than ten years. In addition, he has danced in numerous music videos for artists such as It's Hot As Sun, Capital Cities, and Pharrell Williams. Reynaldo has performed at the Ford Theatre, LA LIVE Dark Nights, The Musical Instrument Museum in Arizona, The Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Festival De La Calle 8, The Pico Rivera Sports Arena, Cabaret Tango, Highways Performance Art Space, Los Angeles Theatre Center, LA Times Festival of Books, Lotus Festival, and many more. Reynaldo Santiago currently dances with 3-19 Dance Art company.
Names of Panelists, Titles of Presentations,
and Abstracts
Manuel Aguilar-Moreno, California State University, Los Angeles
In 1934, Orozco painted a mural cycle about the evolution of the American Civilization in which it is dominated by the power of a new technological order. This new political establishment causes the destruction of the world and the human beings kill each other. At the end, the resurrected Christ appears in anger because there are no humans to save; so his whole mission becomes meaningless and he destroys his own cross. Thus, the divine plan is doomed and God’s creation of humanity was a failure. In Orozco’s pessimistic vision of History, humanity commits suicide and there is no redemption for the human beings.
However, in 1939, he
painted another great cycle called “The Spanish Conquest of Mexico” in the
Hospicio Cabañas in Guadalajara. There he depicted an amplified view of the
actions of the Conquest that he already had presented briefly in the Dartmouth
murals. The destruction and oppression
of the imperialistic and technological world, represented in the image of
Hernán Cortés, have converted the world in a concentration camp of slavery.
When we think that
there is no solution for the human degradation and misery, surprisingly emerges
the Man of Fire as a Messiah that saves humanity. That figure that symbolizes
the ideal of the human spirit, shows in the view of Orozco, that if man was
capable to create such a horrendous history of self–destruction, only he has
the responsibility to redeem it. There is no Christ or God that comes to save
the human beings; they need to be redeemed by an enlightened man.
My presentation centers on these two cycles of murals, and in the manner in which the prophetic vision of Orozco portrays his era, and our world today, still fighting for its very survival.
My presentation centers on these two cycles of murals, and in the manner in which the prophetic vision of Orozco portrays his era, and our world today, still fighting for its very survival.
2. “Las que no pintan murales: El otro movimiento artístico o el otro modo de ver”
Iliana Alcántar, Reed College
Aunque el movimiento
muralista representa un campo prolífico para la creación de obras fundacionales
y fundamentales no solamente en el arte mexicano sino también para el proyecto
de nación durante el siglo veinte, no podemos pasar por alto el hecho que dicho
movimiento equivale también a la consagración de un espacio público y por ende
masculino que deja por fuera a las mujeres artistas y creadoras de su época.
Sin embargo, esta exclusión representa para ellas, la oportunidad de forjarse
una identidad artística propia. Nombres reconocidos en el presente como Frida
Kahlo, Tina Modotti, Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, María Izquierdo
(incluso la misma Lupe Marín—aunque en su calidad de novelista), son testamento
al talento femenino que forja su propio nicho estético aún a pesar que varias
de ellas actúan asimismo como musas de sus contrapartes y/o parejas masculinas.
Basándonos en el contenido
de sus obras, se puede concluir que estas mujeres no siguen los estatutos que
señalan y estipulan en qué consiste el arte revolucionario, ni mucho menos
atienden a dichas ordenanzas. Sostengo que su actitud radica en un interés por
el arte de vanguardias, que, si bien de origen burgués e individualista, éste
plantea y facilita la liberación de las ataduras de una sociedad que les dicta
cómo comportarse, aún dentro del espacio personal y doméstico. A ellas, ese
espacio privado les brinda la oportunidad de explorar artísticamente pero
también de ahondar en sus propios mundos interiores, los cuales hasta entonces
han sido representados por hombres. Y estos mundos/universos resultan fecundas
vetas que, si bien son carentes de una ideología aparente, les brindan la
materia prima que les permite expresar un contenido original y de verdades
personales también, aunque no de grandes momentos históricos.
Además de acudir a las obras
de las artistas en cuestión, así como de algunas biografías noveladas de Elena
Poniatowska sobre éstas, amén de analizar varios escritos como declaraciones y
manifiestos de los muralistas, y por supuesto, utilizando el lente crítico de
los estudios de género, me propongo demostrar lo arriba expuesto.
3. “Diego Rivera y las fuentes visuales
del segundo ciclo mural de la Secretaría de Educación Pública (1926-1928)”
Dafne Cruz Porchini, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas (UNAM)
Esta
propuesta busca hacer un cruce de las fuentes visuales, escritas e
iconográficas utilizadas por Diego Rivera en los murales correspondientes al
Corrido de la Revolución Proletaria y Agraria, ubicados en el segundo piso del
Patio de las Fiestas de la Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) y realizados
entre 1926 y 1928. En este conjunto mural, el pintor condensó tanto su
experiencia de su primer viaje a la Unión Soviética (1927-1928) -donde fue
invitado como delegado del Partido Comunista Mexicano- como su interpretación
sobre los corridos revolucionarios del estado de Morelos, mismos que utilizó
para dar una coherencia narrativa a esta serie de paneles murales. Por otro
lado y de forma totalmente experimental, el artista incorporó otros elementos
que dieron cuenta de su interés por la cinematografía y los dibujos animados
elaborados por Walt Disney, que además plasmó en algunos de sus textos escritos
de finales de la década de los años treinta. Al terminar sus murales en la SEP,
Rivera llevó a cabo las comisiones murales en el Palacio de Cortés (1929-1930)
y el Palacio Nacional (1929-1935) y después emigró a Estados Unidos. De esta
manera, la ponencia se centrará en la visión de Rivera sobre los complejos
recursos formales e iconográficos empleados en estos murales, lo que también
preparó el terreno para su incursión mural en el país vecino.
4. “El Ateneo muralista”
Fernando Curiel Defossé, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Punto de partida: La relación del Ateneo de la Juventud, impulsor de una nueva pintura mexicana, conel Muralismo, “invento” de uno de su tropa, José Vasconcelos. No pocos planos de la cultura mexicana se propuso el Ateneo de la Juventud transformer. El de los generous literarios, a través del eclecticismo. El de la filosofía dominante, el positivism, a través de su crítica. El de las artes plásticas, a través de una nueva plastic mexicana. Expresión de esto ultimo sera, justamente, el muralismo impulsado por José Vasconcelos, tanto en la Rectoría de Educación Pública. Movimiento que tundra al ateneísta Diego Rivera como uno de sus artifices. Y no hay que olvidar que al Ateneo debemos el invento de la Extensión.
Capitulado: “La oleada modernizadora”, “La Academia
de San Carlos, patas arriba”, “El Ateneo histórico”, “Rivera, portadista”, “Una
exposición seminal”, “El Muralismo, argucia vasconcélica”, “O’Gorman: CU, Taxco”,
“Un epitafio: el Polyforum”.4. “El Ateneo muralista”
Fernando Curiel Defossé, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Punto de partida: La relación del Ateneo de la Juventud, impulsor de una nueva pintura mexicana, conel Muralismo, “invento” de uno de su tropa, José Vasconcelos. No pocos planos de la cultura mexicana se propuso el Ateneo de la Juventud transformer. El de los generous literarios, a través del eclecticismo. El de la filosofía dominante, el positivism, a través de su crítica. El de las artes plásticas, a través de una nueva plastic mexicana. Expresión de esto ultimo sera, justamente, el muralismo impulsado por José Vasconcelos, tanto en la Rectoría de Educación Pública. Movimiento que tundra al ateneísta Diego Rivera como uno de sus artifices. Y no hay que olvidar que al Ateneo debemos el invento de la Extensión.
5. “Carlos Fuentes, la novela
y el muralismo: puntualización.”
Georgina García Gutiérrez
Vélez, IIFL Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
La
“nueva novela” de Carlos Fuentes, propuesta renovadora del género novelístico,
surge vinculada al Muralismo del que toma algunas enseñanzas. La novela mural
de Fuentes que nace como foyer artístico
de las artes, aprende de ellas y las alberga. Una poética con una visión de mundo y una forma novelesca
que cuestionan las de la novela burguesa. Este ensayo que continúa mi estudio
sobre la novela mural, se centra en La región más transparente que funda la
poética y la estética de Fuentes.
6. “A Re-Vision of Diego Rivera's Final Mural in Mexico City, titled The History of Medicine in Mexico: The People's Demand for Better Health”(1953).
6. “A Re-Vision of Diego Rivera's Final Mural in Mexico City, titled The History of Medicine in Mexico: The People's Demand for Better Health”(1953).
Gabriela Rodríguez-Gómez, University of California, Los Angeles
The political and social influences made by “Los Tres Grandes” (The Big Three) is largely based on the murals and artworks produced throughout the 1920s to the late 1930s. Imagery that displayed a Marxist or Communist approach in response to the Capitalist and Democratic perspective of the modern era included a sense of modernity that one muralist, Diego Rivera, popularized during the height of his artistic career, even until his death. That sense of modernity was influenced by an optimism for technology, industry, and the inclusion of the working class in the development of a democracy. The participative public or citizenry that attempted to modernize during the post-WWII era invested in social medicine and social security. The paper will discuss Diego Rivera’s final mural in Mexico City inside the Hospital de La Raza finished in 1953 titled, The History of Medicine in Mexico: The People’s Demand for Better Health. Alongside a Powerpoint presentation of my research observations and photographs, I examine each section which included a tree with breasts and a phallus, the depiction of child birth through cesarean section and natural birth. The mural represents the newly implemented social security institution in Mexico known as the Insituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS), and indicates Rivera’s lasting impression on the notion of social security, medicine, and welfare.
7. “Avant-Garde Cuts: New Interpretations of Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals.”
Gorica Majstorovic, Stockton University, New Jersey
The essay highlights the continued relevance of Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals. While focusing on new interpretations of muralist art, I first analyze the boost that the Rivera and Kahlo 2015 exhibit gave to the Detroit Institute of Arts, an institution that had originally commissioned Rivera’s mural in 1932. Second, I examine Julio Ramos’ film titled “Detroit’s Rivera” that was produced in 2017. Ramos’ film is made as an avant-garde visual essay and it received awards on the international circuit, most notably at the Festival Internacional de Documentales Santiago Álvarez in Cuba. This visual essay is based on the archival material that includes documentary footage of Diego Rivera painting in Detroit in 1932-33. Furthermore, Ramos’ visual essay uses avant-garde montage and juxtaposes the Fordist visual archive from the Detroit assembly line with the footage of the company’s involvement in the Amazon from the same period, in order to address not only the past but also our present time.
The political and social influences made by “Los Tres Grandes” (The Big Three) is largely based on the murals and artworks produced throughout the 1920s to the late 1930s. Imagery that displayed a Marxist or Communist approach in response to the Capitalist and Democratic perspective of the modern era included a sense of modernity that one muralist, Diego Rivera, popularized during the height of his artistic career, even until his death. That sense of modernity was influenced by an optimism for technology, industry, and the inclusion of the working class in the development of a democracy. The participative public or citizenry that attempted to modernize during the post-WWII era invested in social medicine and social security. The paper will discuss Diego Rivera’s final mural in Mexico City inside the Hospital de La Raza finished in 1953 titled, The History of Medicine in Mexico: The People’s Demand for Better Health. Alongside a Powerpoint presentation of my research observations and photographs, I examine each section which included a tree with breasts and a phallus, the depiction of child birth through cesarean section and natural birth. The mural represents the newly implemented social security institution in Mexico known as the Insituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS), and indicates Rivera’s lasting impression on the notion of social security, medicine, and welfare.
7. “Avant-Garde Cuts: New Interpretations of Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals.”
Gorica Majstorovic, Stockton University, New Jersey
The essay highlights the continued relevance of Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals. While focusing on new interpretations of muralist art, I first analyze the boost that the Rivera and Kahlo 2015 exhibit gave to the Detroit Institute of Arts, an institution that had originally commissioned Rivera’s mural in 1932. Second, I examine Julio Ramos’ film titled “Detroit’s Rivera” that was produced in 2017. Ramos’ film is made as an avant-garde visual essay and it received awards on the international circuit, most notably at the Festival Internacional de Documentales Santiago Álvarez in Cuba. This visual essay is based on the archival material that includes documentary footage of Diego Rivera painting in Detroit in 1932-33. Furthermore, Ramos’ visual essay uses avant-garde montage and juxtaposes the Fordist visual archive from the Detroit assembly line with the footage of the company’s involvement in the Amazon from the same period, in order to address not only the past but also our present time.
Dr. Jeanine “Gigi” Gaucher-Morales
The Gigi Gaucher-Morales Memorial Conference Series
has been established by the Morales Family Lecture Series Endowment in memory
of the late Dr. Jeanine (Gigi) Gaucher-Morales, who passed away on May 20,
2007. Born in Paris, France, Dr. Gaucher-Morales was a professor emerita of
French and Spanish at Cal State LA. She taught from 1965 to 2005, thus devoting
four decades of her academic life to Cal State LA, where her friends, students,
and colleagues knew her as Gigi.
During her long and productive tenure at this campus,
Gigi taught generations of students the literature and culture of France, of
the Anglophone world, and of Latin America, including the Caribbean. With her
husband, Dr. Alfredo O. Morales, also professor emeritus of Spanish, she
co-founded, directed, and served as advisor of Teatro Universitario en Español for almost 25 years, bringing to
Cal State L.A. annual theater productions based on plays stemming from
different civilizations, traditions and languages, such as the Maya (“Los
enemigos”), Colonial Mexico (“Aguila Real”), Spanish (“Bodas de sangre”),
French (“The Little Prince”), and English (“Under the Bridge”). In addition,
Gigi was the founder at Cal State L.A. of Pi Delta Phi, the national French
honor society. She was recognized and honored by the French government for her
contributions to the knowledge of French civilization in Latin America and the
United States. Gigi was also honored by her peers at Cal State L.A. with the
1991-1992 Outstanding Professor Award.
On March 7, 1997, Gigi was recognized by the Council
of the City of Los Angeles, State of California, with a resolution that in part
reads as follows: “Be it resolved that by the adoption of this resolution, the
Los Angeles City Council does hereby commend Dr. Jeanine ‘Gigi’ Gaucher-Morales
valued Professor of Spanish and French at California State University, Los
Angeles for her vision and her gift to the people of Los Angeles and for
contributing to the richness of multi-cultural arts in Los Angeles.”
Every spring semester, the Gigi Gaucher-Morales
Memorial Conferences will honor Gigi’s academic ideals as a teacher, colleague,
and mentor. The lectures will respond to Gigi’s diverse yet interconnected
interests in civilizations of the world, including Asia, Mesoamerica, Latin
America, and Francophone America, from Canada to Haiti. Gigi embodied the
highest academic standards in a range of academic fields that were truly global
and interdisciplinary. The Memorial Conferences shall serve as a forum for
distinguished guest speakers who engage vital topics of our age in a world
setting, thus offering students, staff, and faculty at Cal State LA an opportunity
to be introduced to different areas of study and artistic traditions that
constitute the highest cultural aspirations of humanity. On April 12-13, 2019,
the Gigi Gaucher-Morales Memorial Conference Series will sponsor a conference
titled “Mexican Muralists: Their Art, Their Lives, and Their Times.” For more
information, contact Dr. Roberto Cantú at rcantu@exchange.calstatela.edu
Film
Documentaries
On Mexican
Muralists
José Clemente
Orozco’s
Mural Art
Diego Rivera: Biography
Debate Polyforum Siqueiros
