Siqueiros' Mural
Siqueiros' mural, which was commissioned by the Plaza Art Center, included smiling people, parrots, and palm trees with fruits that were thrown into people's mouths. Siqueiros created a mural that is regarded as one of the most provocative works of art in the history of Los Angeles, defying the institutional project's desire to follow his own unique artistic notion. Originally, this commission was intended to depict the abundance of tropical America. The highly politicized "Tropical America" is a critique of American Imperialism at the time it was written. Visually, it shows a crucified American Indian that appears in the center of the work, who is dead on a cross that is double-edged.
Symbolism in the Mural
There is also a frightening or intimidating eagle that clearly symbolized the United States, which is suspended above the cross. A Mayan temple is shown behind the Indian, which is in the progression of getting engulfed by the twisted tropical plants to be forgotten forever. The sculptures that lay at the bottom of the wall painting are destroyed to signify the prehistoric indigenous civilization. The picture also portrays a Peruvian and a Mexican on the top right, who are observing the catastrophic and sad spectacle, while armed and ready to protect and guard their culture and land from the seemingly foreseeable victory of American capitalism culture over their own heritage. These two riflemen overlooking the imperial American eagle look like they are ready to shoot anytime.
Response to the Mural
"Tropical America" by Siqueiro depicts the imperialism of the United States in Latin America. It shows the manner in which people of the time struggled. The metaphorical depiction of the struggle against imperialism by Siqueiros was not an easy topic for the business of downtown Los Angeles and its political establishment. In addition, the artwork was not comfortable for the societal matron who was the leading promoter of Olvera Street since it failed to conform to the image she had of Olvera Street as an obedient, submissive and peaceful Mexican Village, which is why the local residents requested that it be destroyed 70 years ago.
Siqueiros' Political Beliefs
It is worth noting that David Alfaro Siqueiros belonged to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that embraced the Marxism-Leninism political ideology, whose goal is the establishment of a state into a socialist mode via leadership resulting from socialist consciousness caused by class struggle dialectic. Therefore, Marxism-Leninism professed its final objective as socialism development into the total communism realization, a social system that is classical with shared ownership of the production means as well as with complete social equality of every societal member. There are many factors that undermined democracy in Latin America. For example, these factors included inequality, regionalism, and power remained in the hands of the few that were privileged.
Relevance of the Mural in its Time
Siqueiros painted the dramatic mural to confront Los Angeles with powerful imperialism condemnation during a time when the threat of Depression to Anglo success worsened over the activity of the union, communism and populations of immigrants. America Tropical stands out as a bold political statement that made the authorities respond by requiring Siqueiros to immediately leave America from 1933 following its creation to 1938. Montgomery says that the mural was completely covered with white paint, which made it lie forgotten over four decades until when the whitewash fell off like a flayed skin. Considering the economic and political environment in 1932 in Los Angeles as well as the reputation of Siqueiros, it was a miracle that he was capable of entering the United States and procures a commission for the mural that was to be placed outdoor in one of the most racially charged city's site.
Racial Tensions in Los Angeles
During the time when Siqueiros was painting America Tropical, the politicians in Los Angeles, bureaucrats, and businessmen disregarded and expelled the Mexican-Americans in the city with an aim of mitigating the effect of Depression on Anglos. In this text, Mexican-Americans refer to people whose heritage is Mexican, who lived in the United States. Although the hyphen expresses the hybrid nature of designation, it continues to elide significant distinctions of language, ancestry, national borders, group identity, and citizenship. Mexican and American terms have the same limitations with the term Anglo that this paper will use to refer to Northern Europeans descendants that have a culture that defined Los Angeles. The Mexican-American population in Los Angeles merged as a unique culture and ethnic group from the 1930s to the 1960s, during a period when they explored means of addressing the power imbalance with Anglos. It was until World War II when Communism and Union activity rhetoric dominated.
Interpretation of "Tropical America"
The interpretation of the artistic work "Tropical America" portrays a scene that typically symbolizes a call to violent action against the society of the United States so as to cure its imperialist proletariat subjugation that is embodied in the crucified man. Siqueiros painted the mural on behalf of the indigenous Mexicans, who were the most oppressed and rebellious of the people of Latin America. The Mexicans in America were disposable sources of labor force in the troubled economic times.
Racial Tensions in Los Angeles
The events of the 1920s are seen as the beginning of the racial tensions that took place in Los Angeles. The labor contractors were looking for abundant and cheap labor that would fuel the economic growth of Southern California when they found a workforce that was receptive in Mexico. On the other hand, the Mexican nationals believed that Los Angeles was relatively stable in terms of economic and political environment, which would offer then an attractive option to the condition at home where the government of Porfirio Diaz eventually collapsed in the 1910 Mexican Revolution. During the same period, Anglo job seekers gathered in Los Angeles and brought cultural expectations that conflicted with the unique culture of the already established and developing population of Mexican American. In an effort by the Anglos to make Los Angeles a setting for Anglo American advancement and prosperity, they came up with a two-pronged approach to dealing with the problem posed by the Mexicans. The Anglos planned to romanticize and repress, with the latter starting immediately after the war between the Mexicans and Americans. Vigilantism by the Anglos accompanied tax and legislative maneuvers that overturned rights of property that had been there for centuries. Due to the resulting discriminatory and segregation practices, the Mexican-Americans were confined to marginal neighborhoods and works. Though there were efforts to shape the business climate of the area, the blueprint entailed a configured racially segregated labor force aimed at eliminating conflict of class, gain production effectiveness, and uphold a non-union open shop setting. This program was enforced politically and economically with blacklists, provocation, fierceness, extraditions, and political machinations.
Depression and Racial Tensions
The Depression shock in the beginning of the 1930s heightened tensions between the Anglos in Los Angeles and the Mexican-Americans. There were repatriation campaigns created to bring back Mexicans to Mexico with an aim of freeing jobs for Anglos and reducing the pressure on relief rolls. The legal and citizenship status of Mexican-Americans was subjected to open interpretations. In addition, policies were different based on the locale and depended on who was powerful as businesses sought to maintain racial purity. Therefore, Siqueiros' artistic work "Tropical America" serves as a political statement against the class brutality of the imperialist system in the United States, especially against oppression and the exploitation feature of imperialism. It was a message that the brutality that was experienced by some of the people in the nation could be ended if people organized into defense groups as depicted by two men holding rifles, to protect the people as well as oppose the violence of imperialism. It can be said that as a Mexican, Siqueiros' politics and affiliations were bound up with, and entailed participating in the people's struggle for liberation through his artwork as well as with the fight of oppressed individuals against United States Imperialism. Generally, politics is defined as a process through which decisions that apply to group members are made, and more specifically it denotes the achievement and exercise of governance positions as an organized control over a human community. In Siqueiros' work, therefore, there is a clear depiction that the practice of the distribution of power as well as resources in Los Angeles in 1932, a period when "Tropical America" was created, was poor and clearly shows the struggle against the vice.
Bibliography
Montgomery, Sara Janelle. “The Long Arm of the Wall: Mural, Myth, and Memory in” América Tropical”.” PhD diss., Texas Christian University, 2017.
Schrank, Sarah. “Public art at the global crossroads: the politics of place in 1930s Los Angeles.” journal of social history 44, no. 2 (2010): 435-457.
Zamora, Rebecca. “Shifra Goldman and David Alfaro Siqueiros’s América Tropical.” Getty Research Journal 6 (2014): 115-127.
