What is Ethnic art today? Select two internationally recognized indigenous artists from the Andes. Explain what are their motives, agendas, and how did they become recognized worldwide?
Ethnic Art today is for a culture to resist oppression by holding onto their pride and spirituality to unite power.
Oswaldo Guayasamin was an Ecuadorian painter and sculptor who pushed people to see the discrimination of his people. He struggled with the tensions between cultures. Because Oswaldo’s father was a Quecha Indian and his mother was mestizo, he received a lot of discrimination growing up, which could be one of his major influences on his later artworks. When Oswaldo was traveling through Latin America he saw the violence and effects of war and the poverty it caused. These were some of the major factors for all of his works showing justice and a desire for peace. Gauyasamin was recognized because of his outstanding artworks through college where he was top of his class. Then discovered later by Rockefeller and Fidel Castro as a magnificent artists.
Eduardo Kingman was also an Ecuadorian artist who was pushed by cultural conflicts between European and Indigenous themes. He wanted to show a pure representation of a culture beyond national identity. Kingman’s goal was to globally expose poverty in all indigenous cultures. His whole mission in art was to teach people about oppression around the world. Eduardo painted such controversial topics that the government limited his scholarships to travel. Regardless he continued to share his ideas with the world expressed through art.
What historical events shaped their art in the last decades?
In the last decades many tragic events such as dictatorship, wars and bombs have greatly influenced the severity and message behind these artworks. Eduardo Kingman focused on hands and the emotions that can be expressed behind them and to address social issues. Oswaldo Guayasamin’s works was highly based on what was going on around him. He was greatly influenced in 1961 by the bombing of Hiroshima, the dictatorship of Franco in Latin America, Nazi camps, and the Spanish war. In the 1980’s, Guayasamin showed a more tender side by expressing the love for his mother and the oppression of women. His mother was the only one to really support him going to art school and he wanted to honor her in that way.
Works Cited:
Strong, Mary. Art, Nature, and Religion in the Central Andes Themes and Variations from Prehistory toPresent. Austin: U of Texas, 2012. Print.
“Oswaldo Guayasamin: Mother | Amused Observer.” Amused Observer. 21 Jan. 2015. Web. 19 Apr.2015.<http://amusedobserver.pl/en/oswaldo-guayasamin-mother/#>.
“Oswaldo Guayasamin – Artist & Humanitarian.” Oswaldo Guayasamin. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.<http://www.modernsilver.com/guayasamin/guayasamin.htm>.
“Entertainment.” CuencaHighLife RSS. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <http://cuencahighlife.com/ecuadorian-art-a-tradition-of-ancient-themes-and-modern-conflict-offers-a-treasure-trove-for-collectors/>.
“Ecuadorian Painters.” Ecuadorian Painters. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.<http://pintoresecuatorianos.com/kingman.html>.
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