José Clemente Orozco’s fury — and genius — spills out of his murals in Guadalajara, Mexico
The anger bottled in muralist José Clemente Orozco’s work is immediately apparent in his harsh reds and distorted figures, but investing a little extra time and perspective reveals his full genius.
With Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, Orozco is considered one of the giants of Mexican muralism.
Visitors to Guadalajara can browse his masterwork at the Hospicio Cabañas (www.hospiciocabanas.jalisco.gob.mx), a onetime hospital and orphanage that now is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ask for guide Erubey Montes Rodriguez, whose sense of humor in both English and Spanish offers a respite from Orozco’s dark themes.
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Orozco painted 57 frescoes on the site’s walls and ceilings in the late 1930s, targeting politicians, the church and the Spanish conquistadors with his furious strokes of blood red and desolate black. Hernán Cortés is portrayed as a giant, soulless robot with slain natives at his feet.
On another wall, the wheel of progress crushes native cultures underneath. Overhead, the most acclaimed fresco, known as “Man of Fire,” shows man simultaneously being consumed by and emerging from the flames.
Montes Rodriguez showed us how Orozco’s method creates illusions as the viewer walks past the frescoes — the wheel of progress appears to advance, crooked streets straighten, painted heads on the walls seem to turn.
For a smaller sampling of Orozco’s work in Guadalajara, visit the Palacio de Gobierno, where Father Miguel Hidalgo ignites Mexico’s freedom movement above the main staircase. Hidalgo frees Mexico’s slaves in a second fresco in the building’s Chamber of Deputies.
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