La Lucha Continua

Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop|Juan Sanchez|Exit Art/The First World

1986 · Color lithograph and screenprint with collage · Drawings and Prints

Here, Sánchez juxtaposes Catholic imagery, family photographs, symbols of tropical lands, and barbed wire. A holy card showing San Martin de Porres is placed above a black-and-white photograph of a young girl in a white lace dress against which falls a silver cross. The nostalgic quality of the image is reinforced by a caption that identifies it as of a girl at her first communion. In addition to symbols of religious devotion are allusions to the Caribbean—as seen in the three crossed-out palm trees—and political oppression. Beneath the barbed wire on the right is a text written in both English and Spanish about "democracy’s prisons," a reference to political prisoners (such as those who fought for Puerto Rican independence), while statements translating to "the fight continues" and "fire and spirit" connote resistance and resilience.

Artist

Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop|Juan Sanchez|Exit Art/The First World

Date

1986

Medium

Color lithograph and screenprint with collage

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Allade, Inc. and Rosoff Foundation Gifts, 1987