0.1 [Assignments] Mexican Muralists and Jacob Lawrence

Instructions

Enlarge Image +Diego Rivera, Flower Carrier, 1935, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Enlarge Image +

José Clemente Orozco, The Trench, 1926–7, fresco at the National Preparatory School, Mexico City

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D. Rivera, Zapata, 1932, lithograph, Museum of Modern Art, New York

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Jacob Lawrence, Migration Series: “They Were Very Poor”, Panel 10 of 60, casein tempera on hardboard, 12 x 18” MoMA, New York.

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Jacob Lawrence, Migration Series, Panel 1 of 60, casein tempera on hardboard, Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.

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Jacob Lawrence, Migration Series: “In the North they had the freedom to vote.”, Panel 59 of 60, casein tempera on hardboard, Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.

What are some stylistic and thematic similarities that you can observe between the large-scale paintings by Mexican muralists (Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros) and Jacob Lawrence? How are the visual forms (stylistic language, color, shape, line, scale, and so on) used by these artists to create messages that protest against social inequality?

10.2 [Discussion] Devices or Techniques

What devices or techniques do the artists and designers employ to communicate and convey messages in the revolutionary, socialist, or communist artwork?

Do you observe any similarities in the way in which artists, designers, or writers communicate messages in current media, travel brochures, advertisements, movie trailers, and so on? If so, provide an example and explain the connections.