Visual Arts Library
Vendajes 3
Artist: Daniel García
Date:
1997
Medium: Acrylic on cavas
Dimensions: 150 cm x 150 cm
Event: Latin American Repression
Motif:
Remembrance
Artist's statement Argentina is trying to heal old wounds from military rule, but we cannot simply ignore what has happened in the past. We have been mutilated and damaged; the scars will never go away. I think that we must acknowledge this past so that we can better understand it. While the works of Argentinian artist Daniel García contain no explicit depictions of violence, his images of abstracted body parts and empty bandages shaped like heads, floating eerily in space, are nevertheless unsettling. He isolates and monumentalizes the objects in his works, compelling viewers to discover the different layers of meaning in his art. The rough textures and layers of his works, created by the meticulous process of applying paint, and then scraping and stripping it away, reinforce these multiple meanings. In many cases, the images in his works seem to be metaphors for physical and psychic pain. Though the cause of the pain is unknown to the viewer, a possible source is deciphered when one places García's works in the context of Argentina's recent history. It then becomes clear that the pain to which García alludes may be the physical violence and mental anguish suffered by Argentinians under military dictatorship. His works function as commentaries on Argentina's past, and as reflections of the country's present-day environment. The palpable disquietude present in his art illustrates the residue of terror, psychological unease, and angst that still runs through society, though the overt threat of violence no longer exists. Further reading: Daniel García website
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