The Denver Art museum event was enlightening on the subject of Mexican postmodernism. All panelists, Pablo Helguera, Alma Lopez, and Damien Ortega talked about the topic of layered identities which could be expressed through several types of art. While Capitalism and Communism or colonization was not talked about in the panel, I believe that it serves as an underlying theme of postmodernism. I think that this sparks an interesting conversation in Mexico’s modernization and the attempts towards cultural erasure. The reason why I believe that Mexico holds importance is due to the artists such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera who were able to contest “established” ideals such as Capitalism and Eurocentrism at a global scale.
Helguera brought up Rivera’s Man at the Crossroads to speak about how Rockefeller had it dismantled and the whereabouts were unknown. Examining the mural and its history closely reveals the reason Rockefeller had it dismantled was due to its anti-capitalist messages that Rivera had subliminally hidden. One of those messages was how humans had control of machines and not the other way, further adding support to his renaming of the piece as Man, Creator of the Universe. In essence, Rivera is implying that capitalism does not allow for people to be themselves, and instead, they become slaves to machines. Damien Ortega attempts to re-establish the lost connection to people-made machines/tools in his installation Frozen Second where the viewer can place themselves at the center of suspended tools. It gives power back to the person by implying that it is the tools and machines that originated from people since they are facing outward from the center. Therefore it is people who have control of the tools that we have become slaves to and if we fail to freeze for a second to realize that, then we will continue to allow modernization to occur.
Alma Lopez’s artwork serves to contest the Catholic church mainly through her piece Our Lady because it challenges the views of the church. In doing so, I believe Lopez allows us to take a moment to examine the importance of Catholic influence in Latin American history and culture. The Catholic church in Latin America is rooted in the brutal colonization of the indigenous people of the Americas. This included practices to force indigenous populations to conform to Catholicism through fear and punishment. Today, the Catholic church holds major influence within Latin American culture, including Mexico, which has allowed it to reshape its narrative within Mexico to serve as an institution that has made the people of Mexico prosperous through its teachings. I believe that Our Lady is crucial because it allows us to question the reason why the Church had taken offense to the art piece beyond being “anti-holy”. It reveals that people can create their own version of the Virgin Mary to fit a narrative that empowers them, exactly like the Church when they created the myth of the “Virgen of Guadalupe” in order to further establish its power in Mexico. In essence, it exposes the Church’s foundation in Mexico and Latin America to have been established on lies.
This panel left me with more questions about the future of Mexican postmodernism. I believe postmodernism artwork holds influential power not only in Mexico but globally. By further promoting its messages, I believe it can help change many broken systems that have led us to hate and corruption worldwide.
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