Taller de Gráfica Popular

The Taller de Gráfica Popular (Spanish: "People's Graphic Workshop") is an artist's print collective founded in Mexico in 1937 by artists Leopoldo Méndez,[1] Pablo O'Higgins, and Luis Arenal. The collective was primarily concerned with using art to advance revolutionary social causes. The print shop became a base of political activity and abundant artistic output, and attracted many foreign artists as collaborators.[2]

Taller de Gráfica Popular, A.C.
OriginMexico
Years active1937–present
MembersRoberto Lazos
Alfredo Mereles
Francisco Javier Calvo Sánchez
Julián Castruita Morán
Hèctor Vargas
Past membersLeopoldo Méndez
Luis Arenal
Pablo O'Higgins
José Chávez Morado
Alfredo Zalce
Ángel Bracho
Francisco Dosamantes
Everardo Ramírez
Alberto Beltrán
Francisco Mora
Jean Charlot
Raúl Anguiano
Fanny Rabel
Mariana Yampolsky
Xavier Guerrero
Leticia Ocharán
Jesús Álvarez Amaya
Arturo García Bustos
Andrea Gómez
Elizabeth Catlett
Adolfo Mexiac
Sarah Jiménez
Jesús Castruita
Reynaldo Olivares
Elena Huerta Muzquiz
Sergio Valadez Estrada
Lawrence Arthur Jones

History

The Workshop was founded in 1937 following the dissolution of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (LEAR, Revolutionary Writers’ and Artists’ League), a group of artists who had supported the goals of the Mexican Revolution.

Initially called the Taller Editorial de Gráfica Popular, its founders built off a rich tradition of printmaking in Mexico, particularly the legacy of José Guadalupe Posada and Manuel Manilla.

Under President Lázaro Cárdenas, the work of the Taller supported the government's policies, including the Mexican oil expropriation.

In 1940, muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros launched an armed assault on the residence of exiled Russian Revolutionary Leon Trotsky, using the Taller's print shop as a headquarters and including some artists affiliated with the Taller in his squad.[3]

There was some collaboration between the TGP and the artists of the New Deal-era Works Progress Administration, including Rafael Tufiño.

Artists from outside Mexico came to work and study at the Taller, including Mariana Yampolsky, the first female member of the Taller, who arrived in 1945 and remained until 1960, and Elizabeth Catlett, who worked with the Taller from 1946 to 1966. Both took Mexican citizenship.[4] During the Civil Rights Movement, Chicano and African American artists produced work at the Taller. The Taller became inspiration to many politically active leftist artists; for example, American expressionist painter Byron Randall went on to found similar artist collectives after becoming an associate member.[5][6]

The TGP faced financial instability and had to relocate several times, but Jesús Alvarez Amaya kept it running up to his death in 2010.

Work

During its heyday, the Taller specialized in linoleum prints and woodcuts. It produced posters, handbills, banners, and portfolio editions.[7] The art supported causes such as anti-militarism, organized labor, and opposition to fascism.

The art was often made through the collaborative process, and the Taller took the anti-commercial policy of not numbering prints, but it sold prints as part of and was the first political publishing workshop in Mexico to do so.[8]

Under the brand La Estampa Mexicana, the TGP sold song lyrics, posters of heroes and Mexican culture and Left movements worldwide, and gave rise to a new generation of calaveras, the Mexican tradition of humorous poetry ridiculing politicians and other popular figures. The raised fist[9] emerged as a graphic symbol of resistance and unity.

It still working on art and social issues and it is located in Dr. Villada 46, Colonia Doctores, Mexico City.

References
  1. Caplow, Deborah (2007). Leopoldo Méndez: Revolutionary Art and the Mexican Print. Austin: University of Texas Press.
  2. Prignitz, Helga (1992). El Taller de Gráfica Popular en México 1937–1977. Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. ISBN 9682933544. LCCN 94139393.
  3. McCloskey, Kevin (April 2009). "TGP: A Mexico City Pilgrimage". CommonSense2: A Journal of Progressive Thought. Archived from the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved 2009-11-29.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. Herzog, Melanie (2000). Elizabeth Catlett: An American Artist in Mexico. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0295979402.
  5. Makin, Jean, ed. (1999). Codex Mendez. Tempe: Arizona State U. See also Prignitz, Helga (1992). El Taller de Gráfica Popular en México 1937–1977. Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes.
  6. Vogel, Susan (2010). Becoming Pablo O’Higgins. San Francisco/Salt Lake City: Pince-Nez Press.
  7. Cushing, Lincoln. "Taller de Gráfica Popular". docspopuli.org. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
  8. Ricker, Michael T. "El Taller de Gráfica Popular". Graphic Witness. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
  9. Mexican posters on social and educational themes
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