Focus on América Tropical: Oprimida y Destrozada por los Imperialismos and explore the History.
Siqueiros came to Los Angeles as a political refugee in 1932 and was sponsored by the Plaza Art Center to create a mural that was supposed to be about happy men, parrots, and palms with fruit falling into the mouths of people. However, Siqueiros completely disobeyed the institutional project request in pursuit of his own unique artistic idea by creating his own mural, which turned out to be one of the most controversial art pieces in Los Angeles history, Tropical America (full name: América Tropical: Oprimida y Destrozada por los Imperialismos, or Tropical America: Oppressed and Destroyed by Imperialism).The mural became the center of controversy, as the painting clearly depicted a Maya-like pyramid with surrounding twisted trees, and in the center was an indigenous person crucified, dead on a double edged cross. There are sculptures laying at the bottom of the mural, destroyed, which signify pre-Columbian architecture and ancient indigenous civilization. On the left side of the pyramid there are two snipers overlooking the imperial American eagle which is on top of the crucified indigenous person and the two Mexican revolutionary snipers look ready to shoot at any time.América Tropical is an emblematic part of the Mexican muralism movement that happened from the 1920s–1970s and later inspired the Chicano art movement in the United States for Mexican-Americans. Siqueiros also belonged to one of the most elite groups of artists from the Mexican Revolution known as "the big three", along with Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. The three of them went around all over the Americas painting murals that depicted the struggles of people.
Mexican Revolution Diego Rivera Chicano art movement Los Angeles left Mexican muralism José Clemente Orozco pre-Columbian