Title
Nuevo Acuerdo
Creator
Description
Michael Menchaca, Nuevo Acuerdo, 2012, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Drs. Harriett and Ricardo Romo, 2019.50.17, © MMXX, Michael Menchaca
Date
Type
Graphic Arts
Format
Contributor
Annotation
In this digital screen print, the artist offers a humorous cartoon style depicting a steamboat filled with cats sailing along a body of water. The eleven male cats and three females are indicated by their mustaches or their comically large red lips. Five cats are dressed in matador outfits, two are wearing sombreros and ponchos, five are wearing overalls and caps, and one cat is much bigger than the others and perhaps pregnant with a round body.
This vibrant piece is filled with colors that draw the viewer’s attention to every corner of the surface. The entire background is a striking blue with an orange sun at the center top and yellow rays coming out of it. Behind the steamboat, there are three blocked out rectangles colored light green, dark green, and pink. An irregular polygon shape is behind the steamboat with blue step-frets against a white background. Above three rows of dots is a black frame which borders a distant white city skyline. Finally, eighteen dots in orange, white, red, green, and yellow suggest the Maya counting system.
Many pieces by Michael Menchaca address Mexican American discrimination and hardships in history. We see the cats sailing along the body of water to a place unknown. With Menchaca's work mostly concentrated on inequality, racism, and unfairness, this piece instills the idea that they are running away from something unfortunate. The viewer is left thinking about what those hardships could have been and what new challenges will be faced once they reach their destination. (Author: Valeri Velez)
This vibrant piece is filled with colors that draw the viewer’s attention to every corner of the surface. The entire background is a striking blue with an orange sun at the center top and yellow rays coming out of it. Behind the steamboat, there are three blocked out rectangles colored light green, dark green, and pink. An irregular polygon shape is behind the steamboat with blue step-frets against a white background. Above three rows of dots is a black frame which borders a distant white city skyline. Finally, eighteen dots in orange, white, red, green, and yellow suggest the Maya counting system.
Many pieces by Michael Menchaca address Mexican American discrimination and hardships in history. We see the cats sailing along the body of water to a place unknown. With Menchaca's work mostly concentrated on inequality, racism, and unfairness, this piece instills the idea that they are running away from something unfortunate. The viewer is left thinking about what those hardships could have been and what new challenges will be faced once they reach their destination. (Author: Valeri Velez)
Access Rights
Image is displayed for education and personal research only. For individual rights information about an item, please check the “Description” field, or follow the link to the digital object on the content provider’s website for more information. Reuse of copyright protected images requires signed permission from the copyright holder. If you are the copyright holder of this item and its use online constitutes an infringement of your copyright, please contact us by email at rhizomes@umn.edu to discuss its removal from the portal.