16: DREW ON ‘LA JUNGLA’ BY WIFREDO LAM
In March, I visited the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and saw When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream, an exhibition on the life and work of Cuban artist Wifredo Lam (1902-1982). Here we see the evolution of Lam’s style and the events that inform them: he gains political consciousness, he hangs out with Surrealists in Europe, he embraces his Chinese-Afro-Cuban heritage, he moves back to Cuba during the revolution.
In many of Lam’s works, particularly his most famous, La jungla (The Jungle), are strange, beanpole figures with skinny limbs, flipper feet, protruding asses, mask-like faces. The figures are similar and different—they stand together in concert, body parts intertwined like puzzle pieces, becoming one with each other and with the tropical plants and animals surrounding them.
As a socialist and member of the anti-colonial and anti-fascist movements of his day, Lam stressed a message of solidarity in his work. The humanoid-animal beings dance together in coalition with vibrancy against forces that seek to divide us, rob us of joy, and milk us of our pocket change. The political and art movements of today must seek similar solidarity with themselves and with each other to become one.
Culture war creeps on the right and purists everywhere sow division and confuse our movement. On the flip, some preach “unity” as a dog whistle for compromising our core values. I’m not interested in hollow unity that excuses our oppressors.
What I am interested in is a mass movement of the working class, and artists must, must, must take part. This movement is one that recognizes and embraces differences and intersections of identity and thought while moving with solidarity toward our shared goals. Our art-political movement needs to stand up tall as one like Lam’s strange beanpoles dancing in the moonlit jungle.
– Drew, May 2026
Drew Hohmann is a community organizer and musician in Detroit. He organizes around full and equitable funding for Michigan public schools and is a member of Metro Detroit Democratic Socialists of America. Drew also performs in the band Andrea Doria and his new project, Peace Sign Hands, will release its debut EP this May.
