La Lucha Continua, from "Guariquen: Images and Words Rican/Structured"

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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: La Lucha Continua, from "Guariquen: Images and Words Rican/Structured"
  • Series/Portfolio: Guariquen: Images and Words Rican/Structed
  • Artist: Juan Sanchez (American, born Brooklyn, New York, 1954)
  • Printer: Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop
  • Publisher: Exit Art/The First World
  • Date: 1986
  • Medium: Hand-colored lithograph and screenprint with collage
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 22 5/8 × 30 3/16 in. (57.4 × 76.6 cm)
  • Classifications: Prints, Portfolios
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Allade, Inc. and Rosoff Foundation Gifts, 1987
  • Object Number: 1987.204c
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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