Rodriguez’ “Triumph of Death” Woodcut @ The Hammer/La Tinta Grita @ The Fowler ~ Westwood

In 2006, the Mexican state of Oaxaca experienced seven months of social conflict that resulted in at least eighteen deaths and the occupation of Oaxaca City by the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) a confederation that included concerned citizens, teachers, and representatives of indigenous communities. Strong-arm tactics by city and state officials against public demonstrations inspired a group of designers and artists, products of Oaxaca’s acclaimed visual arts programs, to use the city walls as a canvas for conveying their outrage over social injustice by creating bold graphic images of remarkable quality, sophistication, and wit. Calling themselves ASARO, Assembly of Revolutionary Artists of Oaxaca, the artists remain anonymous both to avoid persecution and to emphasize that it’s the causes they voice through their art collectively that is important, not their individual identities. La tinta grita/The Ink Shouts features more than thirty of their wood block prints and stenciled works, which evoke a Mexican history of portraying social themes graphically, in the tradition of Posada, Siqueiros, Orozco, Rivera, and Toledo.