Soldado Libertador (Soldier Liberator), 1957
by Adolfo Mexiac (1927-2019), Mexico
Linocut
21" high x 14" wide (paper size)
mint condition
Adolfo Mexiac was born August 7, 1927 in Esperanza, Michoacan, Mexico. He studied art at the Michoacan Academy of Art between 1944 to 1946; and in the San Carlos Academy, in Mexico City from 1947 to 1956. He was a member of The Taller de Grafica Popular (TGP) from 1950 to 1959. In 1955, he was responsible for TGP finances, and in 1956 was in charge of the projects for the TGP.
The Taller de Gráfica Popular was a collective center for the creation of sociopolitical art. Sharing the post-revolutionary idealism of the Mexican muralists, the TGP aimed to reach a broad audience, primarily through the dissemination of inexpensive wood- and linoleum-block prints. The group’s declaration of principles announced, “The TGP believes that, in order to serve the people, art must reflect the social reality of the times and have unity in content and form.”
He lived in Chiapas from 1953 to 1954 where he worked on different artistic projects for The Indigenous Institute (Native Mexicans Institute); also in that state he had his first solo exhibition. In two consecutive years 1957 and 1958, he won first prize at the Salon de la Grafica (Graphics Annual Contest).
In 1964 he made two wood cut works on Mahogany tree, 6 square meters size, for the National Anthropological Institute, he also worked on a great number of design of graphic projects for the Workers’ Union magazine “Ceteme”, for text books, and for the journal publication of the Instituo Nacional Indigenista.
Adolfo Mexiac passed away in 2019 in Cuernavaca, Mexico where he lived and worked in the later years of his life.
