José R. Alicea
Puerto Rican, born 1928Bolívar Marquez I
Not on view
Plexiglas and silkscreen on paper
Dimensions10 × 14 5/8 in. (25.4 × 37.1 cm)
Image: 6 3/16 × 8 5/16 in. (15.7 × 21.1 cm)
Gift of Mr. Jack B. Pierson in memory of Mr. Robert Martin Purcell, 1979.232
A critic once claimed that the strength of Jose R Alicea's work lies in its lack of "parochial condescension to popular taste and the schmaltzy patriotic sentimentality which oozes from the work of many of his contemporaries, for it retains a sincere, distinct and forceful feeling of identification with his surroundings and of truly patriotic fervor."
In this image we see that the artist was stylistically influenced by the European graphic artists whom he admired, the German Expessionists in particular. He combines this with the passionate zeal found in the religious imagery historically created in his native country. Through these two influences Alicea makes a contemporary pictorial response protesting the martyrdom of many of his countrymen during the recently occurred political incident, the Ponce Massacre.
