In Mexico, effeminate Zapata painting draws fury
Posted Dec 10, 2019 09:34:41 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MEXICO CITY — A painting showing Mexican Revolution hero Emiliano Zapata nude and in an effeminate pose has drawn the ire of some of Zapata’s descendants.
The painting depicts a nude Zapata wearing high heels and a pink, broad-brimmed hat, straddling a horse.
Zapata’s grandson said Monday the painting should be removed or descendants would sue.
“We are not going to allow this,” said Jorge Zapata Gonzalez. “For us as relatives, this denigrates the figure of our general (Zapata), depicting him as gay.”
The mustachioed Zapata is famous for leading farmers demanding land rights in the 1910-17 revolution.
The work by Fabian Chairez is part of an exhibit about Zapata in Mexico City’s premiere arts venue, the Fine Arts Palace.
The artist told local media the painting is not labelled as a portrait of Zapata, who is normally represented in a more macho pose, with a rifle or pistol, and an ammunition belt.
The Associated Press
