El Taller de Gráfica Popular / The Workshop of Popular Graphic Arts

Princeton, N.J. -- The Princeton University Library is pleased to announce a new exhibition offering a survey of the early prints and posters from Mexico's foremost political printshop, El Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP). The exhibition will be on view in the Leonard L. Milberg Gallery for the Graphic Arts, Firestone Library, until February 10, 2008.

Founded in 1937, the workshop was a vibrant collective of established and emerging artists committed to the direct use of visual art in the service of social change. Mexico has a long history of politically charged printmaking, largely credited to the work of José Guadalupe Posada, who was an artist and social critic during the 1910 Mexican Revolution. This exhibition begins with a group of chapbooks designed by Posada, representing the genesis of the modern Mexican print.

In the aftermath of the Revolution, TGP was established when Leopoldo Méndez, Pablo O'Higgins, Luis Arenal, and a small group of dedicated printmakers agreed to work collectively to serve the progressive movements of Mexico. Each artist was required to pay a membership fee, participate in a weekly group critique, and contribute 20 percent of his or her earnings to the workshop. They printed posters and broadsides in support of unions and agricultural workers; endorsed national literacy programs and movements for social justice; and condemned fascism. In the tradition of Posada, they produced a constant stream of handbills and fliers using witty corridos (topical songs) and satirical calaveras (skeletons) to caricature corrupt politicians and officials.

The opening of this exhibition will be celebrated on Sunday, October 7, 2007, with a lecture at 3:00 p.m. by Professor Carmen Boullosa, Mexican novelist, poet, and playwright, in room 219 of Aaron Burr Hall (169 Nassau Street; entrance off Washington Road). The lecture will be followed at 4:00 by a reception in the Milberg Gallery on the second floor of Firestone Library in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.

The exhibition is free and open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, and 12 noon to 5:00 p.m. on weekends. Exhibition tours will be offered at 3:00 p.m. on three Sundays: October 21 and December 9, 2007, and February 10, 2008.

Princeton University's entire collection of prints from El Taller de Gráfica Popular has been digitized and can be viewed at http://diglib.princeton.edu.

This exhibition is sponsored by the Friends of the Princeton University Library and the Program in Latin American Studies. For further information, please contact Julie Mellby, 609-258-3197.