Shout out to the Frist Art Museum here in Nashville, for the excellent “Printing the Revolution” exhibit, showcasing Chicano graphics from 1965 to the present day. (It’s there until September 29, btw)
The work in Printing The Revolution is culled from the Smithsonian and follows the thread of activist Chicano art, from the posters of the sixties to the digital graphics of today; a wide range of personalities and social justice issues; Cesar Chavez, Emiliano Zapata, Joe Hill, George Jackson, and Che Guevera are among those represented; The United Farm Workers and the labor movement; immigrant rights; prison reform, the Sandinista uprising, the overturning of Roe V. Wade and more, are reflected brilliantly in these works. I ran into a woman from Chile showing someone around and reflecting on the cataclysm her home country went through. So much sorrow, so much redemption.
Most of this happened in the past fifty years and I wondered if the rapidity of our world has led us to lose our sense of history and civics, leading to some of our current woes. How many kids even know who Cesar Chavez was and why he was important? (I love this painting of him and Bobby Kennedy during his fast; btw. U.S. Presidents choose what art to put in the oval office and President Biden has a bust of Cesar Chavez there, among other items)
Sometimes, too, I wonder why so many present-day artists and musicians eschew political themes, compared to the recent past; we are living in the most tumultuous time since the 60s and 70s and I wish there were more voices reflecting that in their work. It’s not about standing on a soapbox or having an agenda, it’s about reflecting the social conscience of the times. It’s a thread, too, from Woody Guthrie to the Clash to Nina Simone to Rage Against the Machine.
I guess it’s fair to say one of the reasons I decided to get back into writing songs and releasing “The Day Deserved,” a couple years back, was because I felt there was a void in that arena, that I wanted to address, in my very modest way. And, I wanted to stretch the music to go with it. There are tunes about climate change, racism, immigration, women’s rights, and labor, I just wove them through character perspectives, because the personal is the political, and we are connected. Even if the thread is subtle – it is there. So, I think there are different ways to reflect our times, while ideally, creating art for all times – like the Printing the Revolution exhibit illustrates
Anyway, check out the exhibit if you can and remember to always #fightthepower
Doug Hoekstra 