Viva Posada!

by Carlos Cortez (editor)

Because of the high quality and the quantity of his art, Jose Guadalupe Posada is the one Mexican printmaker who has acquired posthumous and international fame. Posada was at his peak at the turn of the 20th century, during the closing years of the Diaz dictatorship. He has long been recognized as one of the personifications of the ensuing Mexican Revolution, which he did not live to se e completed. He illustrated many broadsides of revolutionary ballads, printed on cheap paper and sold for centavos in the streets. [from the Introduction by Carlos Cortez] Published on the 150th anniversary of Posada's birth (1852-2002), this book features 121 of the finest works by the great popular engraver and relief etcher who inspired not only the Mexican muralists but also the international Surrealist movement as well as poster artists and radical cartoonists from all over the world. Also included here are excerpts from classic texts on the artist by Jean Charlot, Jose Clemente Orozco, Frida Kahlo, Andre Breton and others, as well as statements by poets and artists of our own time - Dennis Brutus, Rikki Ducornet, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Franklin Rosemont, Joseph Jablonski, Ted Joans, Casandra Stark Mele, and many more - all published here for the first time.

100 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jordan West · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first (well, only to date) published poem is included here.

[Laura X Camilli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Increíble. Un libro que te transporta por el arte de Guadalupe Posada y el contexto histórico en el que vivió. No obstante, con palabras de contemporáneos y entusiastas artísticos de la época (Frida Kahlo, Vanegas Arroyo, Diego Rivera y Fernando Gamboa), se observa el arte con los ojos de como el mexicano / extranjero vivió la revolución y como el arte de Posada traía a vida este sentimiento revolucionario al observador de su arte. Me hizo también darme cuenta del poder de los trazos de Posada y como son tan aplicables al mundo actual que vivimos, al México fragmentado por Obrador y a la búsqueda del cambio que el México de hoy busca. Cambiemos personajes como Zapata por Obrador y términos como porfiristas por fifis, revolucionarios por chairos tal vez… me deja pensando como esas ejecuciones frente a los rifles del ejército se repiten hoy frente a las armas del narco o del mismo ejército. Posada habla al mexicano de hoy tan claro y tan vivido como le hablo hace más de 100 años.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artists and thinkers and poets reflect on the work and influence of jose guadalupe posada. A lot here

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

though it does represent posada's influence on the mexican muralist movement, it is mostly a collection of short thoughts and comments of the celibrated printmaker.