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Insurgent Images: The Agitprop Murals of Mike Alewitz
Insurgent Images The Agitprop Murals of Mike Alewitz Author:Mike Alewitz, Paul Buhle "Mike Alewitz's art has given eloquent voice to the aspirations of working people throughout the world. His heroic figures and vibrant colors are powerful weapons in the hands of the oppressed." — --Martin Sheen This strikingly beautiful volume is the first-ever published collection of the internationally recognized labor, political, and ... more »environmental murals of Mike Alewitz. The most prolific U.S. labor muralist since the 1940s, Alewitz follows the traditions of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Siqueiros as well as the early painters of the Russian Revolution. With a demonstrated blend of artistic integrity and political commitment, Insurgent Imagescombines grand historical themes with enlivening detail, and illustrates the interplay between personality and event. Alewitz brings to this tradition his own rich sense of irony, humor, and fantasy to illuminate the hidden spaces where connections between the multiracial, multi-gendered workforce of the U.S. and its extended relatives across the planet are to be found. Insurgent Images contains murals for the Teamsters, the Oil Chemical and Atomic Workers, the Communications Workers, United Electrical Workers, the United Farmworkers, as well as the Highlander Folk School and other labor institutions. Other works respond to dramatic developments such as the 1984 strike of P-9 workers in Austin, Minnesota, the 1991 rebellion in Los Angeles, and the tragedy at Chernobyl. Altogether, this collection is an inspiring artistic reading of our epoch, sometimes poignant and yet full of promise.« less