Blog Post 7: Graciela Iturbide & Marion C. Martinez

There were a number of astounding artists presented within these two weeks. There were primarily two that really stood out to me mainly because of the backstory in each. The artworks that really stood out to me were entitled Cholas by Graciela Iturbide and Virgen de Guadalupe by Marion C. Martinez.
I quickly became fond of the artwork Cholas simply because it had a funny backstory and it really made me like the image. As explained by the presenter, none of the women pictured in the image knew who any of the prominent figures were in the backdrop of the image. It really made me laugh as to how they blatantly acknowledged the fact that the figures pictured behind them were unknown to them. Honestly, I would react the same because upon first glance, they were also strangers to me. As noted in the presentation, the artist, Iturbide, allowed for the women in the image to choose the location of the image and lo and behold, the women chose to pose in front of some unknown men. This just made me laugh and like the image so much more for their free spirit personality.


Much alike the art piece Cholas, I became quickly intrigued in the artwork entitled Virgen de Guadalupe by Marion C. Martinez for the inquisitive backstory. As noted by the presenter, this art piece is comprised of recycled materials, primarily computer circuit boards. Martinez chose to pursue a new genre of art using computer circuit boards, which she calls "Mixed Tech Media." I really became fascinated with the backstory behind her "Mixed Tech Media" art pieces. The fact that Martinez utilizes computer circuit boards that people threw away is amazing to me. In doing so, Martinez is able to create art through another person's trash; One person's trash is truly another person's treasure.

I think that these two artists are significantly different in that they employ varying subjects in their artwork. Speaking in terms of these two pieces mentioned above, they both portray two different kinds of subjects: animate and inanimate. Iturbide's art piece displays four women and a baby, which are all living subjects. Whereas, Martinez's artwork focuses on subjects that are lifeless.