Title
American Dream
Creator
Website
Description
Color lithograph on paper, 34.5 in. x 24.5 in. A popular sculptor from El Paso, Luis Jiménez personifies the “American Dream” in the automobile, a symbol of material wealth and privilege in American society. The car is a product of the industrialized machine age, which provides a mode of transportation and is a status symbol. Here, a blond-haired woman lies in an embrace with a sports car, a luxury for most Americans. Jiménez references Greek mythology in the legend of Leda and the Swan, the wife of a king seduced by Zeus in the guise of a swan. Jiménez also interprets the story of the Olmec were-jaguar, born from the union of a jaguar and woman. Associated with the Pop Art movement in his early career, the artist produced a fiberglass sculpture of the same name in 1969 to speak to Americans and their intense obsession with their cars. Luis Jiménez was prominently featured in Dr. Jacinto Quirarte’s Mexican American Artists (1973), one of the first books on Mexican American and Chicano art.
Subject
Contributor
Access Rights
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