Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles

Artists: Willie Herron III and Alfonso Trejo Jr. Positive and negative aspects of science and technology.Herrón and Trejo’s 1976 "Advancements of Man" is a reminder of Orozco’s 1932 “Gods of the Modern World.” Herrón and Trejo make a denunciation of the socio-political, philosophical, and historical issues of modern times. The centerpiece, "The New Xicano Franklynstein" alludes to the positive and negative effects of technology. While Orozco’s portrays skeletons in academic garb suggesting the futile dissemination of false knowledge, Herrón’s and Trejo’s artwork depicts a technologically created human figure, the “New Xicano Franklynstein,” a half-machine, half-human. The question of whether modern technological development has been beneficial or detrimental to human beings is still one of the most pressing questions that face our society today, a question that Orozco probably did not have in mind at the time he painted “Gods of the Modern World.” Photo: © Robin Dunitz