Roberto Reyes Pérez, a member of the editorial board of Choque [Shock], was responsible for the editorial policy of the fortnightly journal of the Alianza de Trabajadores del Arte Plásticas (ATAP) [Visual Art Workers Alliance], which was described as a “weapon” to target “pure art.” The painter announces that there are only two viable options: to be with the avant-garde of the moment (the working class) or with the bourgeoisie. He explains that the economic imperatives driven by the struggle between the classes produces a “choque” [shock effect], and states that the impact will be discussed in the magazine in terms of the visual arts. Choque will publish revolutionary material, and will use graphics to accentuate the plastic aspect of the magazine’s profile.

Roberto Reyes Pérez had been an assistant to David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) during the first muralist initiative. It appears, however, that when this magazine was published, he became firmly entrenched with the opposition since he shared editorial space with Diego Rivera (1886-1957), whose Trotskyist sympathies were as repugnant to Siqueiros as the bourgeoisie, in fact the worst enemy of all. Choque [Shock], along with Juan Brochas [John Brushes], was the journal of the Alianza de Trabajadores de Artes (ATA) [Art Workers Alliance], sometimes also called the Alianza de Trabajadores de Artes Plásticas (ATAP) [Visual Art Workers Alliance]. The members of the ATA— Juan Manuel Anaya, Raúl Anguiano, Santos Balmori, Jesús Guerrero Galván, Máximo Pacheco, Roberto Reyes Pérez, Víctor M. Reyes, Rafael Valderrama, and Jorge Olvera—appealed to other artists to join the union in response to the unjustified dismissal of teachers in the fields of visual arts, music, and drama. As the magazine’s name suggests, Choque intended to confront and challenge the establishment and start a discussion; the overall goal of the writers and editors was to align themselves with the working class avant-garde and to address the class struggle through artistic expression.