Art and Revolution in Latin America, 1910-1990
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David Craven
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Format: ClothPrice: $65.00
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The book examines not only specific artworks originating from each revolution’s attempt to deal with the challenge of “socializing the arts,” but also the engagement of the working classes in Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua with a tradition of the fine arts made newly accessible through social transformation. Craven considers how each revolution dealt with the pressing problem of creating a “dialogical art” — one that reconfigures the existing artistic resource rather than one that just reproduces a populist art to keep things as they were. In addition, the author charts the impact on the revolutionary processes of theories of art and education, articulated by such thinkers as John Dewey and Paulo Freire. The book provides a fascinating new view of the Latin American revolutionaries — from artists to political leaders — who defined art as a fundamental force for the transformation of society.
"Craven's is an ambitious book, weaving political, economic, and a broad swath of cultural phenomena into the analysis of works of visual art that go continuously and very sharply in and out of focus. It is erudite, with cultural and art-historical references broadly ranging across time and space, and it is thoroughly documented with citations, some quite long, from critics, artists, and political and literary figures."—Art Journal
"Not only a valuable contribution to the scholarship because of its collection of drawings, paintings, and posters from 'las tres grandes,' namely the Mexican, Cuban, and Nicaraguan revolutions. It is also an exhaustive examination of the cultural policies employed by these transformational processes, an affirmation of the worldwide impact of the visual arts produced under their leaderships, and a defense of them as autonomous struggles. . . . Craven's artistic analysis, along with his appendices and endnotes, demonstrate a vast knowledge and are engaging to readers. His passionately committed defense of Latin American social transformations and generously wide scope are his greatest contributions to the field."—Katherine M. Hedeen, Latin American Research Review
"[A] beautifully illustrated volume. . . . Thoroughly documented, well conceived and executed."—Edward Hood, Latin Americanist
“Craven . . . begins with an examination of the origins of the modern concept of revolution and its roots in the Enlightenment ideals of the rights of man. The volume provides valuable glimpses into times of upheaval when artists believed their work held meaning for the general public and had the power to create a better future. He reveals how the revolutionary need to reinvent art and make it relevant for a specific time and place often led to innovation and helped artists avoid the trap of making art for art’s sake.”—Elizabeth Cook-Romero, The New Mexican
Publication Date: July 11, 2002
130 b/w + 65 color illus.
