Enrique Chagoya has created a pastoral pastiche based on George Caleb Bingham’s painting “Jolly Flatboatmen” and an Albert Bierstadt painting of the American West. It is a commentary on current immigration concerns with the scene populated by a diverse mix of characters. Using images appropriated from many sources, Chagoya has combined the heads from some images with bodies from others. He has Border Patrol officers with Indian headdresses and businessmen with turbans. He has drawn Humpty Dumpty as the Lone Ranger and many smaller figures appear in the background. Many of the characters have cartoon “bubbles” quoting “artspeak”….in this context the quotes become a satirical self-criticism of the print and its imagery.
“The Pastoral or Arcadian State: Illegal Alien’s Guide to Greater America” is a thirteen color lithograph printed from 10 plates on handmade Amate paper 23¾ x 39” in an edition of 30, plus proofs.