KEYNOTE: Designing an Era: Vicente Rojo’s Role in Mexican Culture

During the mid-twentieth century, many of those active in the art field were likely to have found a common element in the identity of posters, book covers, and cultural supplements, and magazines they consumed. Most of these were likely to have been designed by the same hand, the painter, designer, and editor Vicente Rojo (1932-2021). A Catalan emigré that moved to Mexico in 1949 escaping from Franco's dictatorship in Spain, Vicente Rojo conceived graphic design as a form of cultural service. Few times in history has a single person been so influential in creating the visual culture of an era, as Rojo was for Mexican culture. This talk will examine Vicente Rojo's leading role as the provider of an aesthetic semblance for dominant Mexican modern culture, the distant dialogue between his painting and design, with particular emphasis in his artist books collaborations with writers such as Octavio Paz, José Emilio Pacheco, or José Miguel Ullán.