For the Islander
“…So great that perhaps one day his name will be forgotten.” This bold statement about José Guadalupe Posada was made by artist Diego Rivera in 1930.
Though often unrecognized by name, Posada’s images (especially those he created for Diá de los Muertos) are widely recognizable and have been championed, imitated and re-appropriated by artists and social change leaders to this day.
For the Islander
“…So great that perhaps one day his name will be forgotten.” This bold statement about José Guadalupe Posada was made by artist Diego Rivera in 1930.
Though often unrecognized by name, Posada’s images (especially those he created for Diá de los Muertos) are widely recognizable and have been championed, imitated and re-appropriated by artists and social change leaders to this day.
This master engraver and etcher who had a profound influence on Mexican culture is the subject of a new exhibition, José Guadalupe Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico, opening at the Catalina Island Museum on Saturday, Dec. 23.
Currently, art institutions around Los Angeles are exploring the relationship and impact between Latin America and Los Angeles through a series of exhibitions funded through the Getty Museum’s Pacific Standard Time LA/LA initiative. Though self-funded, the Catalina Island Museum is contributing to this wide arching celebration of Latin American art in the Los Angeles area. With an estimated 20,000 images credited to his name, Posada is heralded as the most prolific of all Mexican artists. His imagery is celebrated as embodying the spirit of Mexico, and changing the course of Latin American arts in a time when European and academic art movements were the norm.
This timely exhibition brings together nearly 60 of the artist’s most iconic images and is remarkable for its inclusion of rarely exhibited printing plates etched or engraved, and signed by Posada himself. In addition, Posada explores the relatively unknown relationship between the artist and Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, Mexico City’s most prominent publisher with whom Posada worked under, and collaborated with, from 1889 until his death in 1913. This year, 2017, marks the 100th year since Vanegas Arroyo’s death.
Using the inexpensive media of print on paper, the Arroyo print shop injected thousands of ideas and images into the hands of many. With an extraordinary ability to have a pulse of daily life in Mexico City, Arroyo set the agenda for content to be published. Posada illustrated everything including the news (both sensational and factual) as well as songs, stories, and poems—many of which were penned by Arroyo himself. Political figures and satirical critiques on contemporary issues were not shied away from and were illustrated with increased vigor as Mexico hurled toward revolution. Together, Arroyo and Posada became a dominate force in shaping Mexican identity, and popular culture.
A final section of the exhibition is dedicated to the legacy of Posada, and the unbelievable sphere of influence his images have been used for to connect events like the Mexican Revolution, artists fighting Nazis and Fascism, Lucha Libre, the Cuban Revolution, the Grateful Dead, Day of the Dead and the art of today’s social movements.
José Guadalupe Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico comes to the Catalina Island Museum courtesy of the Posada Art Foundation, the largest collection of Posada’s artworks privately held in the United States. The collection was purchased by the Foundation directly from the Vanegas Arroyo family. The exhibition will be on view from Dec. 23, 2017 through April 8, 2018. It also marks the first exhibition at the museum in which the text will be presented in English and Spanish.
Due to its close proximity to the holidays, the opening of the exhibition will be celebrated during the museum’s First Fridays at the Museum event on Friday, Jan. 5 from 6 to 9 p.m. The evening will feature mariachi music, tamales, micheladas, calavera face painting and of course, the opportunity to view the exhibition. Visit CatalinaMuseum.org/calendar for info and tickets.
The Catalina Island Museum offers the best in art and history exhibitions, music and dance performances, lectures by guest speakers from all over the world, and the finest in silent, documentary, and international film. Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The new Ada Blanche Wrigley Schreiner Building is located in the heart of Avalon at 217 Metropole Ave.. For more information, call the museum at 310-510-2414 or at CatalinaMuseum.org.
