Planning Continued

I found a short article by Claire Stokoe that covers about 100 years of propaganda posters and protest art. Here are a couple that caught my attention.

Strakhov Braslavskij

El Lissitzky

In working on a paper for another class, I came across the work of Egyptian graffiti artist Hanaa El Degham, whose expressive style and combination of charcoal and paint is unlike anything I have ever seen in graffiti. 

"Pyramid of Crisis"

"Pyramid of Crisis" detail

"Pyramid of Crisis" detail

Obviously the styles are very different, but I would really like to capture more of the fluidity and slightly desperate nature of El Degham's work.  This mural was inspired by a news story she saw that contrasted long lines for gas to fill women's cooking gas canisters contrasted with no line at all at the polls. This took place during parliamentary elections and to El Degham displayed not only the issues of gender in Egypt, but also of a state that was not meeting the needs of its people1.

Both of these themes ties in closely with Tenayuca's work, and a move away from the state-mandated propaganda would be more reflective of her life and radicalism.

I also have a couple of color palettes worked out. Since the wall in the back will of course be very colorful, I want to work with a lot of dark colors and just overlay a figure over the background. 

1.

2.

I initially planned to whitewash an area and paint a full detailed background, but I've decided that if my goal is to bring Tenayuca into modern life, I should instead transpose her figure onto what already exists.

Sources:

1. Gröndahl, Mia. Revolution Graffiti: Street Art of the New Egypt. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2012, 55.

Image Credit:

Hanaa El Degham. "Pyramid of Crisis." Painting. 2012. Suzee in the City. http://suzeeinthecity.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/street-art-on-mohamed-mahmoud-photos/ (Accessed Nov. 30, 2013).