How to think Public Art? 100 Years of Mexican Muralism

Abstract

This essay is subdivided into 7 independent segments that are interconnected with one another because of my research on public art. I have put them together to commemorate 100 years since the birth of Mexican modern muralism. They express my thoughts about public art as an art sociologist and communicator. They represent a synthesis of my own intellectual passion that has structured my thought. Mexican muralists and painters concerned with mexicanidad in the xx century created a great professional art. A legacy that deserves to be profoundly revisited from an actual perspective. It should be recognized and known as the most refined national works of communication produced in the country with a universal value. Through the different statements expressed by diverse of its artists it is a production engaged with society´s troubles and ideals. Public art appears as the builder of the plural identities that constitute our cultural patrimony. Yet, public art in the XXI century is not only related to mural paintings, for it has been actualized by the new communication technologies, mass and social media.