Domingo Ulloa
American 1919 – 1997
Braceros, 1960
Oil on Masonite
36 x 49 in. (91.4 x 124.5 cm)
Smithsonian American Art Museum 2014.20
Gift of Eugene Iredale and Julia Yoo
This artwork by Domingo Ulloa depicts the expressions and gruesome demeanor of a large group of braceros in a camp, which are Mexican laborers permitted to enter the US for an abbreviated period of time to operate on seasonal agricultural work. As a segue to pain, he uses the colors as a gauge to contribute to the overall perception of the harsh conditions of these migrant workers. He connects the individual workers with the inhumane conditions they endured. Using the barbed wire and run down barns, Ulloa alludes to the Nazi concentration camps in Germany during World War II. Utilizing certain techniques, Ulloa sparks a conversation of his art work.
Qy’Darrius McEachern