“My art is a cry for compassion—a voice for those that live on the edge of society.”

Luís Cruz Azaceta contributed this image to a 1992 portfolio of prints by ten artists that was intended to raise funds for the Alternative Museum in New York. The Alternative Museum was a noncommercial space “dedicated to presenting exhibitions of humanitarian significance that explore issues of social and political concern,” as the introduction to the portfolio explains. 

Born in Havana in 1942, Azaceta came to the United States in 1960, fleeing the violence and social upheaval of the Cuban Revolution. His work has always taken an unflinching, and sometimes brutal, look at the human condition, informed by his own experiences as an immigrant and an exile. 

What do you think Azaceta is saying about the traditional notion of the American Dream with this image?  

Luís Cruz Azaceta (born 1942), Lotto: The American Dream, from the portfolio 10: Artist as Catalyst. Silkscreen, 1992. 14 1/2 × 23 in. (36.8 × 58.4 cm). Gift of Barbara Sunderman Hoerner, 2006.60b. Not on view.

Image Description: This is a silkscreen image created in a cartoon-like style of a green classic car facing to our left and resembling a 1950s Cadillac with tail fins. A scene of colorful houses on rolling green hills connected by yellow roads decorates the car, including its windows. A yellow border marked with repeating black irregular V shapes outlines the car. The background is made up of strings of numbers, some black on a white background outlined in pink and some white on a black background.