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Goya

Decent Essays

Any art medium can be utilized to tell a story or evoke emotion in a viewer. Artistry is unique in that it is purely visual and can be left to interpretation if the artist chooses to stay ambiguous in the message they are trying to convey. As an artist, I am always trying to analyze the meanings behind famous works of art, whether those meanings happen to be incidental or purposeful. So, when contemporary artist, Enrique Chagoya expressed his adoration for the social commentary expressed in Francisco Goya’s Los Caprichos sketches, I was intrigued. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes is regarded as one of the most important Spanish artists from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. His work spanned the time of four …show more content…

He is a contemporary artist best known for subverting the meaning behind religious symbolism by juxtaposing them against popular icons (Chagoya, Enrique). He juxtaposes these types of symbols to address the ongoing cultural clashes between the United States, Latin America, and the world in general. The inclusion of pop icons is meant to seem shallow so that analysis of the piece in question will open to deeper conversations. His most recent pieces of art address issues on immigration and the economic recession. For example, his piece Sopla / Gust the wind, 2015 was made with letterpress on Revere Ivory paper (Chagoya, ULAE). The image depicts a priest with round ears resembling Mickey Mouse on his head using a child as a fire bellow. All the while, a group of mothers holding their children watch and point at the display in approval. I believe this piece is meant to represent the Disney corporation’s overwhelming influence on what parents allow their children to watch, including the highly Christian mentality …show more content…

It should come as no surprise that Chagoya’s style was heavily influenced by the late eighteenth century artist. In his Met featurette, Chagoya mentions that he has a background in political economy that has inspired him to add social commentary to his art. This inspiration original stemmed from his love for Francisco Goya’s art pieces, especially his series of sketches titled, Los Caprichos. He mentions how Goya’s art is like “a window to the world of the late 1700’s” (Chagoya, “The Artist Project”). What is so magical about these sketches though is that the sketches are not representative of a specific time or place which allows the messages conveyed to still ring true. The figures in his sketches are metaphorical and represent themes such as greed, vanity, and fear. Chagoya believes that we are meant to see a piece of ourselves reflected in these figures but the dark and humorous style of the sketches keep the message from damning us. His overall message in this series seems to be that we, as humans, shouldn’t aim to appear good but we should instead make the world a better experience for

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