Agitprop News: INSURGENT IMAGES

["Alewitz, Mike (Dept. of Art)" <ALEWITZM@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT
AGITPROP NEWS: INSURGENT IMAGES

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> Monthly Review Press is pleased to announce the publication of 
> 
> 
> INSURGENT IMAGES: 
> The Agitprop Murals of Mike Alewitz 
> 
> by Paul Buhle with Mike Alewitz 
> 
> (ISBN: 1-58367-034-3, $27.95, pbk.). 
> 
> 
____________________________________________________
>  
>  
>From the Preface by Martin Sheen:

> You won't find Mike Alewitz's art in the usual locations. His murals are in 
> places like South-Central Los Angeles, or on the radiated walls of Chernobyl, 
> or in the barrios of Nicaragua, Mexico City or Oxnard, California.  He paints 
> in the bombed city of Baghdad.  
> 
> Some of his creations are on the walls of union buildings, or in the schools 
> and libraries of working-class communities.  Many of his murals are not on 
> walls at all, but are proudly carried on picket lines and demonstrations by 
> people engaged in vital struggles for decent working conditions, an end to 
> racist violence, or for the rights of immigrant workers.   
> 
> Mike's murals often contain images of well-known working-class leaders: 
> Martin Luther King, Emiliano Zapata, Harriet Tubman, Cesar Chavez and Malcolm 
> X.  Others are not so well-known or have been lost to us - like early labor 
> leaders Lucy and Albert Parsons or Wesley Everest. Some are martyrs of our 
> own times like Ben Linder and Karen Silkwood.  And all of the paintings are 
> peopled by unknown workers of all nationalities.
> 
> The murals tell the story of those who feed and clothe us - of those who 
> produce all the wealth of humanity...
> 
>  
> Excerpts and images are available online at 
> http://www.monthlyreview.org/insurgentweb/
> 
> _______________________________________________________________
> 
> 
> Insurgent Images combines art, labor history, and political activism in a 
> full-color, beautifully illustrated, large-format, 160 page showcase of the 
> murals of Mike Alewitz.  Insurgent Images contains text by Paul Buhle and a 
> foreword by the award-winning actor Martin Sheen.
> 
> The most prolific U.S. labor muralist since the 1940s, Mike Alewitz follows 
> the traditions of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Siqueiros as 
> well as the early painters of the Russian Revolution. With a demonstrated 
> blend of artistic integrity and political commitment, Insurgent Images 
> combines grand historical themes with enlivening detail, to illustrate the 
> interplay between personality and event. Alewitz brings to this tradition his 
> own rich sense of irony, humor, and fantasy to illuminate the hidden spaces 
> where connections between the workforce of the U.S. and its extended 
> relatives across the planet are to be found.
>  
> Mike Alewitz is a renowned muralist and labor activist. He is available for 
> interviews and may be contacted at alewitzm@xxxxxxxxx For three decades Mike 
> has been active in movements for peace and social justice. He teaches mural 
> painting at Central Connecticut State University and is the artistic director 
> of the Labor Art and Mural Project.
>  
> Paul Buhle teaches American Civilization at Brown University. His previous 
> books include Taking Care of Business: Samuel Gompers, George Meany, Lane 
> Kirkland, and the Tragedy of American Labor, Tender Comrades: A Backstory of 
> the Hollywood Blacklist, The Encyclopedia of the American Left, and C.L.R. 
> James's Caribbean.
>  
> Insurgent Images contains murals for the Teamsters—their "Victory Mural" 
> after the United Parcel Service (UPS) Strike of 1998—the Oil Chemical and 
> Atomic Workers, the Communications Workers, United Electrical Workers, the 
> United Farmworkers, as well as the Highlander Folk School and other labor 
> institutions.
>  
> Other works respond to dramatic events such as the 1984 strike of P-9 workers 
> in Austin, Minnesota, the 1991 rebellion in Los Angeles, and the tragedy at 
> Chernobyl. Altogether, this collection presents an inspiring artistic reading 
> of our epoch, sometimes poignant and yet full of promise.> 
>  
> Insurgent Images may be ordered online at http://www.monthlyreview.org/szw or 
> by calling 1-800-670-9499 or (212) 691-2555. 
>  
> ______________________________
> 
> 
> Renee Pendergrass
> Monthly Review Press
> 122 West 27th Street
> New York, NY 10001
> T: 212.691.2555
> F: 212.727.3676
> http://www.monthlyreview.org
> 
________________________________________ 

MIKE ALEWITZ
alewitzm@xxxxxxxx 

Department of Art 
Central Connecticut State University 
New Britain, CT  06050 
Phone: (860)832-2359 
________________________________________ 

LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT (LAMP)

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