The Anguish of Being, also titled Self Portrait with #1 Son)

This painting—a symbolic self-portrait—conveys a sense of existential struggle. The large head-like center of the composition is part mask, part skull, and related to Raya’s idiosyncratic exploration of traditions drawn from Mexico’s indigenous cultures. Through the eye opening (or lenses) we see a family, divided.

Since 1964 Raya has been active in the Chicano movement and has worked as a studio artist, muralist, and educator in Chicago’s Pilsen community. Like the great Mexican muralists who have inspired him, such as Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, he creates socially engaging work that combines iconographic elements and forms in ancient Mexican art with imagery drawn from modern life. The large sizes of his studio paintings and assemblages and their dramatic, figurative style reflect the influence of his activity as a mural painter.