Gustavo Monroy, art as a logbook of vi💀lence

In the documentary Gustavo Monroy and Art as a Logbook of Violence, the artist recounts his creative processes and the parallel between his works and harsh moments in the history of Mexico and the world.

This story begins in Sonora during his childhood, how his environment and upbringing led him to form a critical conscience with great social concern.

At the age of 18, he arrived in Mexico City to study painting and began to make drawings in which he explored self-portraits. His appearance, with his black beard, long hair, and aquiline features, seemed to be a living representation of the image of Christ. These self-portraits were cataloged as sacrilege in his first exhibition.

In this documentary, Gustavo Monroy traces the different stages of his work, immersing the viewer chronologically in history. Through his paintings, he opens a portal to violent events that have caused significant social pain.

Among the events, he records are the Acteal Massacre and the attack on the Twin Towers. Most of his themes reflect the social problems that exist in Mexico today, which are universal problems that, to a greater or lesser extent, are present throughout the world in the figures of migration, disappearances, massacres, and violence in general.

In the self-portrait, the artist tells the story of the violence the Mexican population is experiencing. Monroy shows how violence has been normalized and assimilated into this culture, becoming a consumer product.

The audiovisual proposal of Gustavo Monroy and Art as a Logbook of Violence proposes how art can lead to reflection on complex problems such as violence, moving away from the vanity with which many artists live today, themes that Monroy calls «silly art».