|
The Agitprop Murals of Mike Alewitz
by Joe
Auciello / July 2005 issue of Socialist Action newspaper
Book Review: Paul Buhle and Mike Alewitz, "Insurgent
Images: The Agitprop Murals of Mike Alewitz" (New York: Monthly
Review Press, 2002), paper, 160 pp., $27.95.
"Insurgent Images" is a literary and political
collaboration between Paul Buhle, a radical activist and scholar, and Mike
Alewitz, a muralist, teacher and socialist. The text, written by Buhle, is
evidently based on interviews and documents provided by Alewitz and gives a
context for and commentary on
the murals.
The chronological structure of the book provides a kind of portrait
of the artist as, first, a young man, then as a politically conscious and
mature one. The
focus of the book, though, is the art itself, which dominates almost
every page in striking color reproductions.
Full disclosure: I met Mike Alewitz about 25 years ago when we were
both members of the Socialist Workers Party in Boston. (Political disagreements
and a highly factional national leadership eventually led to my resignation
and Alewitz’s expulsion). Though we were not close friends, I did get to
know him fairly well as we collaborated on various political activities.
Perhaps this experience leads me to feel that though the artist’s
work is generously displayed throughout "Insurgent Images," the
artist himself remains elusive. Admittedly, this may seem like
quibbling. Alewitz’s murals are,
after all, intended as public art that makes a political statement, yet his
vivid and many-layered personality is evident in each painting.
The Alewitz I recall was hard working, demandingly honest, and
deeply principled. He was also highly articulate, flinging words like
stones, deftly
dropping sarcastic comments, especially whenever some pretension was
available for puncturing. And still, there was something disarmingly naïve
about Alewitz, something oddly touching, even endearing.
Those qualities of irony and humor are characteristic of Alewitz’s
art, though they may not be the first traits one notices in the otherwise
earnest and even
dramatic subjects of his murals.
The typical Alewitz work continues the tradition of
"agitprop" (agitation and
propaganda) that places art in the service of the class struggle. This is
not art
as decoration or adornment, but art as a weapon, intended to stir
the emotions and deepen the political consciousness of its viewers.
Alewitz’s murals are readily understandable and direct, though
careful observation shows they are not as simple as they seem at
first. Often, a central figure is
placed prominently in the foreground, balanced on each side by supporting
or explanatory images in the background.
The overall pattern draws a viewer’s eye to the center of the
mural. For instance, the mural
reproduced on the cover of "Insurgent Images," "The Worker
in the New World Order: Production," consists of three complementary
triangles, with the central figure making up the largest triangle. That
figure, a familiar image of a worker in a cap, is rendered quite unfamiliar
by the unexpected use of purple as the worker’s skin color.
Complementary and balancing colors heighten the prominence of this
purple figure. The choice of flesh
tone is not purely fanciful, though whimsy is a characteristic element of
Alewitz’s work. Color, in art as in life, takes on a political
significance. As Alewitz explains, "Agitprop artists need to
experiment and develop a visual language to express the diversity of the
living labor movement without having to rely on clichéd images of ‘diverse
looking’ groups of people.
"I have often used androgynous looking people painted in
purples, greens and blues. Besides, it’s much more fun to paint purple
people."
That fruitful combination of politics and fun, typical of Alewitz’s
murals, is one reason why his work never descends to the dreary didacticism
that can make
political art meaningful but dull. His satire and wit, often
expressed through smaller, background figures, frequently enlivens the
paintings.
Ultimately, though, Alewitz’s art is driven by a deep political
commitment and a radical social consciousness. In the Foreword to
"Insurgent Images," actor Martin Sheen rightly notes,
"Mike’s work provides an important example of how an individual, by
basing his art on the creative power of the working-class, can create a
body of work which helps to educate, organize and agitate for a better
world.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Click here for info on how to subscribe to Socialist
Action newspaper.
|
