Huelga!

Andrew Zermeño, Huelga!, 1966, offset lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Margaret Terrazas Santos Collection, 2019.52.1, ©1966, Andrew Zermeño
Andrew Zermeño, Huelga!, 1966, offset lithograph on paper, sheet and image: 24 in. × 18 12 in. (61.0 × 47.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Margaret Terrazas Santos Collection, 2019.52.1, ©1966, Andrew Zermeño

Artwork Details

Title
Huelga!
Date
1966
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet and image: 24 in. × 18 12 in. (61.0 × 47.0 cm)
Copyright
©1966, Andrew Zermeño
Credit Line
Gift of the Margaret Terrazas Santos Collection
Mediums Description
offset lithograph on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure male — full length
  • Object — other — flag
  • Occupation — other — reformer
Object Number
2019.52.1

Artwork Description

Zermeño created Huelga! (meaning "strike" in Spanish) as his first poster for the United Farm Workers. Don Sotaco, the recurring figure in Zermeño's posters and political cartoons, is a representative striker whose honorific title "Don" (esteemed; sir) conveys respect. Dressed in tattered pants and with a hole in his shoe, Don Sotaco rushes forward with a sense of agency as well as urgency. "I was trying to show the spirit of the workers . . . who were attacking the status quo," Zermeño recalled. Brandishing a UFW flag proclaiming the strike, Don Sotaco--and by extension the union--calls for action from farmworkers and their supporters.


¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now, 2020


Description in Spanish

Zermeño creó la litografía Huelga! que fue su primer cartel para la Unión de Campesinos. Don Sotaco, la figura siempre presente en los carteles y los cómics políticos de Zermeño, es un huelguista típico, cuyo título honorífico Don” expresa respeto. Vestido con pantalones gastados y con un agujero en el zapato, Don Sotaco avanza con una sensación de control, pero también de urgencia. Estaba tratando de mostrar el espíritu de los trabajadores… que estaban atacando al status quo”, recordó Zermeño. Llevando una bandera de la Unión de Campesinos en la que se proclamaba la huelga, Don Sotacoy por extensión el sindicato — hace un llamamiento à la acción inspirado por los campesinos y sus aliados.

¡Imprimir la revolución! Auge e impacto de las obras gráficas chicanas, desde 1965 hasta hoy, 2020

Works by this artist (10 items)

Carrie Mae Weems, Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me - A Story in 5 Parts, 2012, video installation and mixed media, color, sound; 18:29 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the American Women's History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, 2023.9A-G, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me — A Story in 5 Parts
Date2012
video installation and mixed media, color, sound; 18:29 minutes
Not on view
Carrie Mae Weems, Suspended Belief, from the series Constructing History, 2008, archival pigment print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2022.48.5, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Suspended Belief, from the series Constructing History
Date2008
archival pigment print
Not on view
Carrie Mae Weems, A Woman Observes, from the series Constructing History, 2008, archival pigment print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2022.48.1, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
A Woman Observes, from the series Constructing History
Date2008
archival pigment print
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Salvatore Mancini, Narragansett Electric, 2000, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Joseph A. Chazan, M.D., 2002.80.8
Narragansett Electric
Date2000
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Salvatore Mancini, Remains of Lock, Millville, 2000, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Joseph A. Chazan, M.D., 2002.80.6
Remains of Lock, Millville
Date2000
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Keisha Scarville, Chair, 2001, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Perkins Center for the Arts, 2002.17, © 2001, Keisha Scarville
Chair
Date2001
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Salvatore Mancini, Eel Fisherman, 2000, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Joseph A. Chazan, M.D., 2002.80.2
Eel Fisherman
Date2000
gelatin silver print
Not on view