On December 4th, the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York and New Village Press will celebrate the release of the first English edition of Conversations with Diego Rivera: The Monster in His Labyrinth by hosting a parallel dialog between art historian Anna Indych-Lopez and international muralist Rina Lazo —Rivera’s last living student.

Every Sunday for a year, Alfredo Cardona Peña interviewed Diego Rivera. This dialogues revealed the artists views on art, culture, and politics of Mexico. Initially published weekly in Mexico City’s El Nacional newspaper between 1949 and 1950, these fantastic verbal excursions into Rivera’s thinking on art, politics, and life are now available in English.

The New York City book launch will also feature dramatic selections from these famous interviews read by actress Elena Hurst, granddaughter of the late Alfredo Cardona Peña. Don't miss this extraordinary opportunity to hear stories behind one of Mexico’s most relevant artists of the XX century.

——————

Rina Lazo, has long been part of the Mexican School of Painting. She began her career as Diego Rivera’s assistant in the late 1940s to paint the mural “Dream of a Sunday afternoon in Alameda Park.” Lazo has created prominent murals of her own, many of which reflect her passion for Mayan culture and mythology.

Anna Indych-López, eminent scholar of Mexican Muralism, is the City College of New York’s Stuart Z. Katz Professor in the Humanities & the Arts. She is also Professor of 20th-Century Latin American Art at The Graduate Center, CUNY, and the author of award-winning books.