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Figurative


Image of Their Freedom of Expression...The Recovery of Their Economy

Their Freedom of Expression...The Recovery of Their Economy
Drawing

1984
80 x 80 in. (203.2 x 203.2 cm)

Enrique Chagoya (Mexico City, Mexico, 1953 - )

Object Type: Drawing
Medium and Support: Charcoal and pastel on paper
Credit Line: Gift of the Artist with additional support from the Collection Committee, in honor of the San Jose Museum of Art's 35th anniversary.
Accession Number: 2003.39

Exhibition


Recession Watchdog, The Work of Enrique Chagoya, May 18 - June 6, 2013, Kala Art Institute and Gallery, Berkeley, CA.

Renegade Humor, February 3, 2012 - July 8, 2012, New Wing, Second Floor, Central Skylight and South Metro A Galleries, San José Museum of Art.

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, September 21, 2007 – January 6, 2008, Toured to University of California, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA, February 13 – May 18, 2008, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA, September 12 – December 7, 2008.

Visual Politics: The Art of Engagement, November 20, 2005 - March 5, 2006, New Wing, First Floor, Gibson Family Gallery and Plaza Gallery, San José Museum of Art. Circulated to: Katzen Art Center at American University, Washington, DC, April 9-July 29, 2006.

It's About Time: Celebrating 35 Years, October 3, 2004 - February 13, 2005, New Wing, Gibson Family Gallery and Plaza Gallery, First Floor, San José Museum of Art.

SJMA Label Text


Renegade Humor (2012)

Enrique Chagoya created Their Freedom of Expression…The Recovery of Their Economy in response to the Reagan administration’s political intervention in Central America. Chagoya uses familiar icons to express his view of how colonialism and oppression continue to impact foreign policy between the United States and Mexico. Here, Ronald Reagan’s face adorns the body of a Mickey Mouse figure—Chagoya’s symbol for American cultural imposition. The Reagan Mickey paints the phrase “Ruskies and Cubans out of Central America,” while the foot emerging from his bucket of red paint implies that government interference will result in the spilling of human blood. In the lower left corner, another Mickey Mouse figure but with the face of Henry Kissinger declares: “By the way keep art out of politics.” Chagoya exposes ironies within the actions of the powerful with biting wit. He confronts corruption and hypocrisy with sarcasm and humor.


Visual Politics: The Art of Engagement (2005-2006)

In 1984, as a student at the San Francisco Art Institute, Enrique Chagoya was active in the national movement known as the Artists Call Against Intervention in Central America. All affiliated artists expressed an "outrage over government policies, propaganda, and murder" in Central America.

Their Freedom of Expression...The Recovery of Their Economy is one of Chagoya's satirical "oversized cartoons" produced in response to the Ronald Reagan administration's political intervention in Central America during the 1980s. Reagan's face-along with the face of Henry Kissinger, who served as chairman of the Commission on Central America during Reagan's administration-adorns the body of Mickey Mouse, a symbol of America's cultural imperialism. Chagoya shows Reagan and Kissinger using human blood to spread their political ideology.


It's About Time: Celebrating 35 Years (2004-2005)

Responding to writer/activist Lucy Lippard’s “Artists Call Against U.S. Intervention in Central America,” Enrique Chagoya used the colors of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas to portray President Reagan and Henry Kissinger as seemingly benign Mickey Mouse figures. The artist notes, “I wanted to do an image of a politician but I didn’t want to make an evil-looking monster…I preferred a harmless look because that’s how politicians represent themselves to the public.” Symbolizing cultural imposition in this work, Mickey becomes a surprising provocateur for examining American foreign policy.

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  • Image Dimensions: 80 x 80 in. (203.2 x 203.2 cm)

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