Josefina Auslender is part of a generation of Argentine artists who responded to the murderous "Process of National Reorganization" implemented by the nation's violent dictatorship between 1976 and 1983. In this talk, Daniel R. Quiles (Associate Professor of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) will consider Auslender's subtle interplay between abstract drawing and the body in relation to the group of artists loosely identified as La Nueva Imagen (New Image) including Diana Dowek, Margarita Paksa, and Guillermo Kuitca. These artists present distinct ways of witnessing and condemning state terror, while also making the case for art as a component of trauma work. Together, they complemented and complicated the gestures of activists who, in the same moment, were famously returning rematerializing bodies in public space in the form of silhouettes.

This program is being presented in conjunction with the exhibition Josefina Auslender: Drawing Myself Free on view at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art through May 31, 2026.

Bowdoin College is committed to providing an accessible and welcoming environment. Please contact the Events Office (events@bowdoin.edu or 207-725-3433) with any questions regarding the accessibility of this event and/or to request accommodations. Please note: some accommodations require advance notice and may require documentation of a disabling condition.

Image: Josefina Auslender, untitled, from the series Los Cuerpos, 1978. Graphite, ink, and colored pencil on paper. 20 x 14 1/2 in (50.8 x 36.8 cm). (c) Josefina Auslender. Courtesy of Sarah Bouchard Gallery.