Empujando Tinta is an exhibition of screen prints celebrating the ten-year anniversary of Taller Tupac Amaru (the Taller). The Taller is a collective art studio dedicated to the resurgence of the screen-printing medium as a tool for social change. In 2003, the Oakland based Taller was founded by artists Jesus Barraza, Favianna Rodriguez, Estria Miyashiro and Melanie Cervantes who joined in 2007. Empujando Tinta features work from the Taller’s member artists, as well as work from its collaborations and commissions with other artists including: Laura Amin, Barbara Carrasco, Tony Carranza, Enrique Chagoya, Emory Douglas, Kewana Duncan, Ana Teresa Fernandez, Juan R. Fuentes, Rupert Garcia, Natalia Garcia P., Ester Hernandez, Jesse Hernandez, Celia Herrera Rodriguez, Leslie Lopez, Josh MacPhee, Estria Miyashiro, Emmanuel Montoya, Malaquias Montoya, Julio Cesar Morales, Cerisse Palalagi, Taller Xollotl, Shizu Saldomando, Cory Taum, Jessica Tully, Christine Wong, Tommy Wong, Josh Warren White and Ernesto Yerena.
Inspired by the collective work models of the Mexican Taller de Gráfica Popular, the Cuban based Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America, the Chican@ Art Movement and Bay Area organizations like Mission Gráfica and Self Help Graphics, Barraza and Rodriguez established the Taller to provide a space that both prints political posters to galvanize communities into action, as well as produces fine art prints created by artists of color.
Over the past ten years, the Taller has designed and produced screen prints for social service organizations and with both emerging and established artists, which in turn has fostered intergenerational exchanges of knowledge and practices. Since its inception, the Taller has produced over 17,000 prints that encompass local and international causes such as: globalization, indigenous sovereignty, migration, gentrification, human rights, and LGBT justice. The Taller’s adroit combination of the traditional hands-on screen-printing medium and use of digital technology (making their work available online) has created a revolutionary hybrid model to activate communities. This has underscored the ability of their work to respond to local and global events with immediacy, serving as tools for individual activists and providing a visual language for causes around the world from migrant rights in Arizona to human rights issues in the Middle East. This unique practice enhances the ability and value of the graphic tradition to transcend borders, disseminate information and incite action.
Taller Tupac Amaru’s dedication to the screen-printing medium stems from a deep commitment to sustain the medium’s legacy as an artistic tradition used to give voice to artists of color and to advocate for the rights of disenfranchised people and causes worldwide.
“The art we’re creating is like throwing little stones at a wall, and as we keep going it’s gonna weaken and it’s gonna break. We’re not trying to be the solution, it’s a multi-generational movement that we’re a part of. It’s not that much, but if we are able to pass this on and get a few more kids throwing stones. Eventually it’s all going to tumble down.” [1]- Jesus Barraza
[1] Dunn, Alec Icky, and Josh MacPhee “The Future of Xicana Printmaking: Alec Dunna and Josh MacPhee interview with the Taller Tupac Amaru (Favianna Rodriguez, Melanie Cervantes, and Jesus Barraza)” Signal. 01 (2009): 24-25. Print.
