by Mike Rhode
100 Years of Cartoons in El Universal: Mexico-United States As Seen By Mexican Cartoonists. Augustin Sánchez González.
Washington, DC: Mexican Cultural Institute, September 4 – October 30, 2019. https://www.instituteofmexicodc.org/
El Universal was Mexico’s
first modern newspaper, according to the exhibit, and on its first day of
publication in October 1916, the first thing readers would see was group
caricature of the men writing the new Mexican constitution. The exhibit
commemorates both the 50th anniversary of editor Juan Francisco Ealy
Ortiz, and the 100th anniversary of the newspaper.
Sánchez
González
organized the bilingual exhibit into five sections. The first deals with the
establishment of the newspaper with its early cartoonists Andrés
Audiffred and Hugo Thilgmann, as well as comic strips influenced by American
strips. Two original strips by Audiffred and two caricatures by Thilgmann are
highlights of this section, which also includes two sheets of the original
comics section of the paper, as well as reproductions of front pages with
cartoons. This section is supplemented with a video of the curator discussing the
exhibit.
The second section is on the influence of the American cartoon and comic
strip. A reproduction of a newspaper page by Guillermo “Cas” Castillo of comic
strip characters such as the Katzenjammer Kids and Mutt and Jeff with caricatures
of Charlie Chaplin is displayed with large reproduction drawings by Juan Terrazas
of Cas’ drawings of the characters. Terrazas is the director of the Museum of
Caricature which was a major contributor of pieces to the exhibit. This room is
by far the weakest part of the show. In spite of the curator’s comments about fame
of the characters during the exhibit opening, the comic strips are too far
removed from the current audience’s experience to be recognizable. Only
students of the form recognize the 100-year old characters today. A local
connection to the exhibit venue is seen in Rogelio Naranjo’s self-caricature of
as a young dandy holding the Washington
Post with a headline announcing his arrival in D.C., but the placement of
the piece in this section is odd, and probably just is an artifact of the
layout of the rooms.
The third part concentrates on caricature of American presidents, and
the fourth on Uncle Sam and U.S. politics. These and the next section are by
far the strongest part of the exhibit with original artwork by masters such as Antonio
Arias Bernal, Ruis, Naranjo and Helioflores featured. It can be interesting and
instructive to look at caricatures by artists who are not natives of the
country, because they tend not to use the same tropes or exaggerated features
as a local cartoonist might. Bernal’s drawing of Eisenhower is clearly
recognizable, but Ruis’ cartoon of John F. Kennedy makes him look more like
Superman’s Jimmy Olsen, and Efren’s caricature of Reagan does not seem accurate
at all. Audiffred is still working for the newspaper at this time, and has a
nice heavy ink line displayed in his drawing of Vice President Richard Nixon.
Naranjo’s drawing of Jimmy Carter is firmly in the large-headed David
Levine-influenced style, but with two men hanging on barbed wire behind Carter,
is probably harsher than what would have appeared in an American publication.
One of the pieces that resonates today is Helioflores drawing of Richard Nixon
as a tree with multiple cuts in its trunk and titled, “¿Caerá? (Will it Fall?).”
Although there are two good caricatures of Trump in this section, the Nixon
drawing feels timely.
The section on Uncle Sam’s best piece is “C
áscaras (Banana Peel Fall)” by Bernal,
showing Uncle Sam slipping on a United Fruit Company banana peel. This section
however, reveals the problem of the lack of dates in the captions as the viewer
will not necessarily be aware of the events that prompted the cartoon. An
exception of course is Altamrino’s odd untitled drawing of Uncle Sam missing two front
teeth after September 11, 2001. Kemchs’ “Alambrada (Barbed Wire), a color print
of Trump’s name as barbed wire is a clever piece even if it does not feature
Uncle Sam.
The exhibit closes with a section on masters of Mexican cartooning.
Without needing to hew closely to a theme, this section is the strongest part
of the exhibit. Excellent examples by all the previously named cartoonists are
featured along with others by Omar, PIT, Carilla, and Dzib.
Overall the exhibit is an interesting and educational introduction to
one particular niche in Mexican cartooning. Additional photographs can be seen at
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGJtK1B. The exhibition is
open Monday – Saturday on
16th St NW, and includes a free booklet. The historic mansion
that holds the exhibit is available for a guided tour as well, and features
striking murals by Roberto Cueva del Río of Mexican history up the three levels
of the main staircase. I believe there is an accompanying book and will provide
additional details if I can confirm that.
(This review was
written for the International Journal of Comic Art 21:2, but this version
appears on both the IJOCA and ComicsDC websites on September 6, 2019, while the
exhibit is still open for viewing.)
