Mural Mashup a Picasso Reiteration?

“Rise to The Top on the Backs of Others”
It may seem inconceivable to draw parallels between Pablo Picassos renowned “Guernica” and the mural mash up created by USF’s drawing and painting students. However, the relationship exists in a desire to unsettle the emotions and thoughts of a community while spurning on the growth of reflection and a desire for awareness.

In 1937, Picasso’s masterpiece was one of the first blatant antiwar statements rolled out upon a large surface and displayed with the intent to spark controversy. Now, almost exactly seventy years later, students at the University of San Francisco have begun to paint a work of their own, representing the concerns that America faces in a culture twisted many directions.


“Rise to The Top on the Backs of Others”, read a statement blaring out of an electric radio on one of the walls. And that is what we do as a country, incredibly motivated towards money and instant gratification. Little is achieved in America alone and unfortunately many are downtrodden under the powerful in the process.

A fairly young nation driven by success lies painted on our hallway walls, naked in its truth and harsh in its judgment but nonetheless entirely American. Cheney stares at his spectators with his head flayed open and a striking phrase beside his portrait. Up and down the hallway political statements are laid bare. Halliburton is called out on their corruption, and the separation between church and state is punctuated with a question mark? Because… if theretruly is a separation then why is our motto “In God We Trust”?


The incorrigible truth lies in the lack of knowledge our Culture boasts. In a sense, USF students are attempting to do what Picasso did years ago, to implore the public to open their eyes and see what is occurring in the world today.