Jose Roberto Barrera
Jornaleros en la Lucha, 2012
Serigraph, Ed. 51
26”x20”

This humorous print draws upon the familiar imagery of the “lucha libre” Mexican wrestling tradition to heroicize ordinary “jornaleros” or day laborers by naming and personifying the opponents who place these workers in positions of precarity. According to the artist, these opponents include the police, who issue tickets or arrest laborers found in corners or in front of hardware stores, the minuteman who blames the jornalero for economic downturns or job scarcity, the racist who doesn’t want brown people encroaching on American land, the banker who symbolizes greed and the true face of post-crash hardship, the corrupt boss who takes advantage of the undocumented status of these workers, and Arizona SB 1070, one of the strictest anti-immigration legislations passed in the country. Barrera softens the weight of these serious struggles with amusing, stereotypically cinematic characters, but employs a poignant and biting humor that keeps these issues in full focus.