UC San Diego

This thesis considers the interplay of various social and historical factors that shape the practice of art in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. It looks at printmaking as a discipline particularly suited to challenging colonial and aesthetic hierarchies that have traditionally structured art markets, art practice, and art education in Oaxaca City. In Mexico, art and cultural production have maintained a more direct relationship with state power than in other countries, and this thesis outlines various artistic authenticities that, while no means exhaustive, have been important in establishing a certain aesthetic of Mexican printmaking since the Mexican Revolution. These include the legacies of José Guadalupe Posada, muralism, the Taller de Gráfica Popular, La Ruptura, and the student movement of 1968, as well as particularly Oaxacan authenticities established by the Oaxacan Style and the street art produced in response to the teacher's strike of 2006-2007. As the idea of the nation-state is disintegrating with the rise of a global capitalism and increased ease and speed of communication, it is important to consider the changing relationships between the state and cultural production in Mexico, and especially in Oaxaca. In Oaxaca, many people depend on a successful tourist industry, which is inherently linked to state policies and state money. Political and social upheaval in Oaxaca have reshaped the relationship Oaxacans have with their government, and have created new spaces for art that allow young printmakers to challenge traditional artistic Mexican and Oaxacan hierarchies