November 16 - December 17, 2004

Nunca Mas / Never again

The "Disappearances" of some 30,000 men, women, and children during Argentina's "dirty war" of 1976-1983 was a defining period that will never be erased from that country's national consciousness. A coup d'etat on March 24, 1976 installed what was to become the bloodiest regime in Argentina's history. Turning the public force of the State against its own citizens on a systematic and massively applied scale, the regime forced the disappearance of persons believed in some way to be threatening. The very essence of such a crime is that hte identiy of the perpetrator is concealed, for if there is no prisoner or not even a corpse, how can it be proved that there was a victim, and how can anyone be accused of a crime?

In 1983, after the military junta was removed from power and democracy was restored, a national commission was appointed to investigate the fate of those who had disappeared. However, the junta had destroyed the records of the atrocities and tortures that were committed, and to this day none of the desaparecidos have returned.

Released from terror and repression, there was an immediate surge of varied artistic expressions that attempted to confront and reflect the tragic experiences of those years. Working with Graciela Smith, well-known curator and publisher of the contemporary art magazine Revista Magenta, we will feature works by artists Carlos Herrera, Norbeto Gomez, Matilde Marin, Eduardo Medici, Norberto Puzzolo, and Silvia Rivas as they treat this theme. Some of the works will be provocative, all will be forceful, as they provide a range of aesthetic response to this horrific socio-political experience.

Included in this display, which is being organized especially for the Thompson Gallery, will be a variety of media, including photographs, video, collage, and sculpture. This exhibition will reflect the imprint of a society that is intent on never forgetting those years and those experiences, in order that they will never be repeated.

The Hanged One 1978-83 212 x 72 x 45 cm.	Abismo negro en paisaje blanco 2003 video still	untitled 2001 60 x 90 cm.

download November brochure -front (pdf)
download November brochure - back (pdf)

For additional information concerning the gallery program and visiting artist lecture series, contact:

Jo Farb Hernandez, Director
Natalie and James Thompson Galleries
San Jose State University
School of Art and Design,
ART 129A
San Jose, CA 95192-0089
telephone: (408) 924 - 4328
fax: (408) 924 - 4326