Interviews from Mexico - Painting Reality: Art in a Troubled World

Interviews from Mexico, hosted by Laura Carlsen, goes straight to the source -- the men and women making news and making history in Mexico and throughout the region. Today two artists, Gabriel Macotela and Gustavo Monroy speak with Laura Carlsen about the way they interpret their world, a world that is now in turmoil in Mexico. Gabriel, the abstract painter and sculptor, and Gustavo, the figurative artist, are from a generation that shares common social concerns, inconformity and commitment. Gustavo sees his work as a kind of chronicle of what we’re going through in Mexico. He says, “We’re in a process of decomposition that has passed the point of no return. There is no return. My art reflects this process. I take it from reality, from the news, from the papers.” Gabriel talks about the way his commitment to justice takes him to the social movements in the streets and communities to give workshops, to interact with other people. Both artists have felt the need to respond to the atrocious crime committed against the Ayotzinapa students and the need to register what is happening in the face of the impunity of political power in Mexico and look for a way out.