Stairway to Heaven Print

"Stairway to Heaven" 2009 acrylic on Belgian linen 32 x 30 in. Framed, without glass, using a shadow box style frame, into which the painting is “floated,” leaving a narrow channel of space around the painting that reads as a dark bordering line from the front. 33.125 x 31.125 x 2.125 in (including frame) [84 x 79 x 5.5 cm.] A detail of this 2009 painting was reproduced as part of the invitation for my 2010 exhibition "Espectáculo e insignificancia" [Spectacle and insignificance] at Guadalajara’s ex-Convento del Carmen (see detail). The piece was developed with specific reference to one section of José Clemente Orozco’s mural in the main stairwell of the city’s Palacio de Gobierno, in which the state governor’s office is located. This particular Orozco mural (one of two in the same building) featured an enormous image of Hidalgo in the center section, with flanking sections that deal with what (on the right-hand side) is commonly referred to as the “Political Circus” of competing and overlapping ideologies, and includes caricatures and symbols referring to fascism, Nazism, Japanese imperialism, Communism, etc., and (on the left-hand side) what is called the “tenebrous alliance” between the Church and military leaders. This latter section is the one I reproduced, in part, displacing the figures from the stairway to the area outside of the building, which sits kitty-corner to Guadalajara’s Cathedral in the center city. The two figures seen in the lower corners are, on the left, then Archbishop of Guadalajara, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez (a relatively redneck arch-conservative) and, on the right, then governor of the state of Jalisco, Emilio González Márquez, who was from the conservative PAN (National Action) party, which is closely linked to the Church. The anvil that appears between them, with the serpents that have emerged from the mural entourage coiling around it, is a reference to the extreme rightwing (anticommunist, ultra-Catholic, and troglodytes on all the expected issues: women’s reproductive rights, LGBT issues, freedom of speech, the separation of church and state, etc.) secretive and militant ideological shock troop known as “el Yunque” [the anvil], which is reported to have within its ranks not only members of the PAN party but of the governor’s cabinet as well. The issue of the separation of church and state has been an area of great conflict both historically and contemporarily in Jalisco, which was one of the principal focal points of the 1926-29 “Cristero” uprising against the federal government by fervent Catholic clergy and lay people. The actual space separating the two principal buildings that house “Church” and “State” (the Cathedral and the Palacio de Gobierno) is extraordinarily narrow to begin with, since they sit almost touching corners. These two figures, however, did everything they could to close that narrow gap even more tightly. (I have returned to this same theme in another, smaller painting titled “Homage to Engineering in Jalisco,” which I will discuss separately in the context of that work.) The state-run exhibition space at the ex-Convento del Carmen, where this piece was exhibited, ought to have a pluralistic and laical attitude toward the cultural expressions realized under its auspices. However, realpolitik is another matter entirely: when I decided I wanted the image of this painting reproduced as part of the invitation, I was “advised” by the director of exhibitions that it could only show a “detail” of the work and would have to omit the controversial images of the two figures at the bottom. I was told I was welcome to try to submit the entire image, but I would only be shooting myself in the foot, since the censorship exercised by the governor’s inner circle would forbid its inclusion, albeit without definitively saying “no” until it would be too late to substitute some other image instead, and I would therefore be left without any invitation at all for the show. The title is a wink at Zed Leper Zinn, of course, but more than that, I wanted it to convey the idea that this particular governor (and others of his ilk) may see their “public service” in politics as a means for currying favor with the Church and accruing brownie points for themselves as a result of their political decisions that benefit the interests and ideology of the Church. The governor had to walk past the Orozco murals in the main stairway several times a day, on the way to and from his second-floor office, although he probably didn’t spend much time reflecting on their meaning. But if he went whistling past the social critique, thinking only of his own future reward (in the eyes of his lord?) for being a “good boy” as governor, then his ascent of the stairs leading past Orozco’s murals was more of a “stairway to heaven” than simply a way to get to the office and go to work.

Print:Giclee on Fine Art Paper

Size:10 W x 10 H x 0.1 D in

Size with Frame:15.25 W x 15.25 H x 1.2 D in

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