MURALS
What does freedom look like to you?
The dynamic art of Hector Duarte vividly represents his education in the workshop of famed Mexican Muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. The art showcases poliangularidad, a technique derived from geometry that creates the depth of perspective and movement.
These murals tell stories—especially the stories of the immigrant, personal transformation, and freedom/libertad. Duarte describes “Ice Cream Dream,” installed at a Chicago Pink Line “L” station:
“Eso representa un mensaje de los mariposas/butterflies que no necesitan papeles. Ellos huellan liberalmente. The butterflies come and go. Many Mexicans come, but cannot return.”
“The first job for many recent immigrants is selling ice cream. However, here you will not see a person. What you see are butterflies streaming out of the cold ice cream cart. They follow a path created with a traditional shawl, un rebozo, to the city of Chicago. This rebozo represents our mother, our home, our land—Culture.”
More information on this art form and artist can be found in our Teacher’s Guide.
Additional Resources
The artist’s website has galleries featuring his art and brief biographical information:
There are also many resources on the public art of Chicago.
One group dedicated to public art includes the Chicago Public Art Group, found here: http://www.cpag.net/home/
The website http://murallocator.org/ is also full of rich resources and maps regarding the murals of Chicago.
