Existing comment:
Urgent Images
In the 1960s, Chicano artists actively supported the United Farm Workers (UFW), a union founded by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta to combat the horrendous working conditions of California farmworkers. Chávez knew that art could amplify the reach of the farmworkers' movement and involved artists from the very start. As the civil rights movement gained steam, artists turned to other urgent social causes, including the anti–Vietnam War effort, environmental justice, Chicano communal land rights, immigrant rights, and the struggle against police brutality. Drawing inspiration from radical graphics traditions in Mexico, Cuba, and elsewhere, and adopting strategies from pop and conceptual art, artists used bold lettering, declarative text, and eye-popping color to engage the public. In an effort to reach the common person, artists disseminated their prints via mail order and at demonstrations, and posted them throughout fields, urban barrios (neighborhoods), and college campuses. Contemporary graphic artists often adopt new strategies to reinvigorate this activist legacy today. |