The Press Serving Imperialism La Prensa al Servicio del Imperialismo

Date

1946

Creator

Following the decrease in political engagement that marked the TGP’s [Taller de Gráfica Popular] activities after the end of President [Lázaro] Cárdenas’s administration, the 1946 elections gave the group an opportunity to support a political candidate and reassert their interest in social concerns. With no other likely leftist candidate, the TGP threw their support to Miguel Alemán, who would serve as president from 1946 to 1952. Alemán’s presidency allowed the workshop to restore its relationship with the ruling party of the Mexican government and once again legitimized them to create politically critical prints. Alfredo Zalce created La Prensa al Servicio del Imperialismo at the dawn of this new political atmosphere. The print condemns the press’s support of imperialist and fascist governments. Imperialism is represented as a monstrous, anthropomorphic balloon plastered with newspapers—the Universal, El hombre libre, La prensa, Excelsior, and Omega. By identifying specific, well-known papers, Zalce derogates the authority of the press in the mind of the viewer. As Imperialism rises over the figures below who inflate him with multiple pumps, he waves a menacing fascist salute. Zalce enhances the threat imposed by this monster by girding him with a bandolier and setting him against a dense, vertiginous sky. Typical of Zalce’s work, the other figures also have grotesquely exaggerated physiognomies. Their bulging eyes and gaping mouths embody the artist’s vilification of the press and the supporters of imperialism. Through La prensa, not only does Zalce support the ideals of the new presidency but he also reestablishes the TGP as the true "press" of the Mexican people. from Costa, Para la Gente: Art, Politics and Cultural Identity of the Taller de Gráfica Popular (Notre Dame, 2009)