A Critical Review of the Taller de Arte e Ideología

Abstract

In Mexican art the muralist movement has been the paradigm of collective work. However, in the seventies collectivity entered a new phase with the association of young artists that became known as Los Grupos (The Groups). These artists carried out a review of the notions of modern aesthetics, such as artistic genius and the postulates of muralism. One of the pioneers of this movement towards creative collective work was the Art and Ideology Workshop (tai in Spanish), a multidisciplinary collective that assumed a critical stance on art matters displaying a clear Marxist heritage and leaving aside the separation between theory and praxis among other antagonisms. The present article takes a critical approach to the tai proposals. It is positioned against the collective- individual opposition in artistic work. It also analyzes the relationship between art and politics as the ability to produce innovative experiences which pose new conditions of the human, rather than the presentation of contents that pursue predetermined ends.