Elizam Escobar

I have been active in the struggle for Puerto Rican national liberation since the '60s. From the socialist-Marxist perspective, I have simultaneously engaged in political-direct' as well as art/cultural work in support of this struggle, but not always with the same intensity or understanding.

In my 'first period' I separated 'personal' work my paintings from more 'public' works political illustrations, propaganda, caricatures, etc. Both activities were done under the dictates of my ideological assumptions. Nevertheless, there were always elements that would completely or relatively escape the dictates of my 'ideology.' Thematic elements drawn from my particular experiences exposed me to conflicts between what was supposed to be and what actually was, creating tensions that were contained by oneiric images (political monsters, doubts repressed by ideology, etc.) Formal elements, devalued by socialist realism and other 'realist' aesthetics, also escaped.