My latest project in street art studies bloomed from my passion for urban photography, but is also closely related to my previous research. The role of cultural producers, the political implications of their work, and the impact of that work on governing bodies have been enduring themes in my work to date. Whereas my previous research focused on the place of intellectuals in Latin America, where intellectuals have always had a political voice and have used their platform to speak for the majority, I now turn to the political forms of engagement of street artists, and examine the recent shift from the intellectuals speaking for the people towards the people speaking for themselves. I recently received a SSHRC Insight Development Grant (July 2018-July 2021) for my multidisciplinary project “El arte como martillo: Political Street Art in Contemporary Mexico.” By looking at street art demonstrations and literary manifestos, this project examines the work of various colectivos (collectives) that use street art as a form of political activism to highlight the current role artistic practices play in “underground” social movements. My research reassesses the relationship between graffiti—often perceived by governments and the public alike as visual pollution—and social mobilization. By studying current street art and by addressing new research questions, this project aims to contribute to a more complete understanding of how social movements are shaped by visual culture.
My particular focus is on the Oaxaca-based Asamblea de Artistas Revolucionarios de Oaxaca (ASARO) and the Unión revolucionaria de trabajadores del arte (URT-Arte), and the pan-Mexican Mujeres grabando resistencias, three colectivos whose members choose to remain anonymous; this supports the idea of the colectivo that is so central to most indigenous conceptualization of societies, but it is also a staple of artistic production in Mexico dating back to the 19th century. The three colectivos “promote workshops for the communities” (“Asaro/Oaxaca”), and use art as a way to reach the poorer sectors of society: they go to colonias, elementary and high schools, and work places to teach community members about art, artistic practices, and social mobilization, and tackle topics such as government corruption, feminicidios, economic inequalities or class struggle. Their objective is “to multiply in small-scale including people from different regions to create centers of resistance” (“Asaro/Oaxaca”) through art, which makes these artists oriented toward society and active in attempting to change it, promoting ideals of justice and inclusion through an artistic praxis that goes further than art itself.
The book is under contract with McGill-Queens University Press, expected in 2022.
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