Ortiz 1

Kimberly Ortiz

English 101

Professor Batty

27 February 2018

Through the Eyes of the Artist

The Tropical America Mural created by David Alfaro Siqueiros is located on a wall of an

Italian Hall on Olvera Street in El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument of Downtown

Los Angeles. Originally, Siqueiros was supposed to create another mural envisioned by the

people who contracted him, but Siqueiros created Tropical America instead. This mural was

revealed to the public in 1932 and right away rose controversy in the Los Angeles Community.

The Tropical America Mural displayed Siqueiros’ views and thoughts on America and how it

was destroying and mistreating all Mayan descents and their culture.

In Tropical America one sees many twisted, old, and yellow trees making a path that

leads towards the center of the mural. There a man is tied by his wrists and ankles to a double-

edged cross made of wood; seemingly like Jesus Christ was tied to the cross. The man that is tied

up by a rope seems to have his head broken and placed by his armpit and seems to be an

indigenous person as he is only wearing a piece of cloth tied around his waist. On top of the

cross one can see the American Eagle which is representing America. Behind the scenario is a

kind of beige ruin with carvings and red drawings; and the images on the side of it make it seem

Mayan and ancient. The ruin has two black squared shaped openings divided by the tied man and

have tree branches growing onto the ruin. At the bottom of the mural one can see some destroyed

sculptures that symbolize ancient indigenous architecture. On the right of the mural, one can see
 Ortiz 2

a red, one roomed building with black doors that contain four little windows at the top. On the

roof of the building there are two Mexican men standing and watching the American Eagle with

guns in their hands ready to shoot it down.

Although many people may argue that all Latinos put themselves up for this destruction

in America for coming here to the U.S. in the first place, I believe that they came here to make a

better living and look for many great opportunities not only for themselves, but for their families.

Some may say that not all Americans mistreated or violated the Latino communities, and I say

that this may be true and for those who didn’t do such a thing should not take this mural to heart.

The mural overall demonstrates the oppression received by all Latinos in the Los Angeles

Community by America and some Americans. No one can really doubt that Latinos weren’t

mistreated or discriminated against. This mural demonstrates the Los Angeles history and goes

down in that history itself.

The Tropical America mural was whitewashed due to the controversy that was going

around Los Angeles but, has recently been recovered by the conservators from the Getty

Conservation Institute. According to Leslie Rainer, “a mural conservator and senior project

specialist with the Getty Conservation Institute,” the conservators have photographed the mural

to regularly find the dirty spots or keep checking for places to fix on the mural (Miranda 2017).

The mural has been through so much and was in a bad condition, but thanks to the conservators

it is now in great shape and should stay like this. Carolina A. Miranda, a journalist from the Los

Angeles Times states, “Rainer says that the mural’s location --- at a busy intersection in

downtown and above the exhaust fans of Olvera Street restaurants --- means that it accumulates
 Ortiz 3

rime at a rapid rate.” Even though the conservators keep track on the condition of Tropical

America, the mural is always in danger because of its surroundings. The way the mural was

created gives it an advantage of being cleaned and gave it the advantage surviving the

whitewash. “(The mural was made using an unusual technique that included painting directly

into wet cement, like a fresco.) ‘It’s a cement plaster and it’s really thin,’ says Rainer. ‘It would

have dried really quickly’” (Miranda 2017). The conservators have not only been cleaning the

mural but, have been studying the techniques used by David Alfaro Siqueiros. They have been

using microscopes as they fix up the mural to focus on what Siqueiros could have used to create

Tropical America.

Overall, Tropical America is a representation of various mural topics. David Alfaro

Siqueiros poured his thoughts and emotions into this mural and those emotions reflected on to all

Latinos and Mayan descents living in Los Angeles. Their experiences of being oppressed was

expressed on the day Siqueiros revealed Tropical America. Tropical America was a mural that

demonstrated the destruction of Mayan descents and their culture committed by America.

America ruins these cultures brought here from various countries by their forceful ways, their

imperialism, their ways to forcefully expand their country. It has gotten hard for many Latinos to

express themselves and their traditions/cultures without being criticized and put down. It has

been hard even before this mural was revealed and America hasn’t changed since then. Tropical

America represents oppression and destruction of indigenous cultures and indigenous people and

America’s power and influences are to blame for it.

 Ortiz 4

Works Cited

Miranda, Carolina A. “Olvera Street's Once-Whitewashed Mural by Mexican Master David

Alfaro Siqueiros Gets a Needed Cleaning.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2017,

1:25 pm, www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-david-alfaro-siqueiros-mural-

20170407-story.html.