The New Order
circa 1996-1997
50.8 x 66.1 cm (20 x 26 in.)
Ricardo Duffy
(Monterey Park, California, 1951 - )
Primary
Medium and Support:
Screenprint
Credit Line:
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gift of Gilberto Cárdenas, 2017
Accession Number:
2017.367
Ricardo Duffy uses imagery from pop culture to represent "The New Order" of the American experience following controversial California ballot initiatives in 1994. That year, the state voted against a ban on smoking in public and in favor of Proposition 187, which introduced a citizenship screening system and prohibited undocumented immigrants from using state services such as non-emergency health care and public education. George Washington smokes a cigarette in front of a giant Marlboro logo, which hovers over a Southwest landscape. A skull, visible on Washington’s lapel, and the skull-patterned ground beneath a U.S. highway sign depicting immigrants crossing symbolize the deadly effects of state-sanctioned tobacco and immigrant surveillance.