Fábrica [Factory]

During the 1930s, as Mexico slowly recovered from the 1929 economic crisis, images of industrial development became hopeful signs for the urban working classes seeking a better standard of living. The modern factory was an important subject in Mexico City in 1931, when the cement plant Cementos Tolteca publicized its brand by sponsoring an influential art contest exploring the subject. In the growing metropolis, the links between art and industry took place in different ways. The children in the industrial neighborhoods had access to artistic education through the Centros Populares de Pintura [People’s Painting Centers], which Jesús Escobedo attended in his youth. He later joined the Taller de Gráfica Popular [People’s Graphic Workshop], a socially and politically engaged art collective. Escobedo had his first individual exhibition in 1933, at age 15. This early woodcut displays a distinctly modern sensibility with its simplified volumes, crisp textures, and dynamic perspectives.