Frozen Assets 1931

Editor: Here we have Diego Rivera’s "Frozen Assets" from 1931, currently housed in the Dolores Olmedo Collection in Mexico City. It's a fascinating piece depicting, what appears to me, a layered view of social strata. The almost bleak, yet strangely ordered, composition gives it a very haunting mood. What catches your eye when you look at it? Curator: Haunting is spot on! It's like peering into a diorama of the Depression era, a multi-level stage setting of economic disparity. Rivera, you rascal, layers it all for us! Look at the tippy-top – a jagged cityscape, a metallic forest of aspiration. Editor: Yes! The skyscrapers almost feel…oppressive? Curator: Precisely! Then we descend to what appears to be a homeless shelter, then further down to, ironically, a bank vault. For me, this is a very visceral indictment of a system that literally buries its assets while people starve. Notice the cold geometric lines against the warmth of the… are those bodies piled up above? Editor: Yes, it looks like bodies or body bags. It's unsettling, but creates this strong visual narrative about wealth and poverty. Curator: Absolutely, this reminds me, it's like Rivera is screaming at us to WAKE UP and acknowledge the human cost behind those gleaming skyscrapers. What do you think he would make of today’s world? Editor: I imagine he’d find new and creative ways to make a statement, just as potent. Curator: Ah, Rivera, you provocateur, you! Always challenging us to think, to feel, to question. I love him so.