El pueblo a la Universidad. La Universidad al pueblo
David Alfaro Siqueiros
The People to the University, the University to the People: For a New Humanist Culture of Universal Depth
David Alfaro Siqueiros created a mural committee to create the pieces commissioned for Ciudad Universitaria.
After negotiating with the architects of the building complex, he was hired to decorate all four façades of the Sala de Consejo Universitario at the Rectoría. This sketch corresponds to the south wall, the only one he finished: five students, bearing symbols of books and writing/drawing implements, deliver their knowledge to the people. The geometrical synthesis of the sketch marked the mural’s inception from 1952 to 1954; in the latter year, the construction of mosaic-covered concrete volumes began. The incorporation of three dimensional elements, which Siquieros defined as “sculpture-painting,” as well as the mural’s polyangular composition, built in relation to multiple vanishing points, sought to depict movement—especially for the cars driving along Insurgentes Avenue, in a simultaneous critique and appropriation of billboard advertisements.
DAVID ALFARO SIQUEIROS (1896–1974)
El pueblo a la Universidad. La Universidad al pueblo. Por una cultura nuevohumanista de profundidad universal, ca. 1952
The People to the University, the University to the People: For a New Humanist Culture of Universal Depth
Study for mural. Acrylic on wood chipboard
Acquisition, 2005
