Josefina Auslender

A Solo Exhibition

July 2 – August 7, 2022

It is a rare privilege to present Auslender’s solo exhibition at Sarah Bouchard Gallery, featuring two distinct bodies of work — one created in Buenos Aires at the time of the Dirty War, and one created here in Maine for this exhibition. Most of this work has not been seen in the United States.

Auslender is a master of her craft — a draftswoman with over sixty years of experience. She is a brilliant technician with a unique mind, a quick wit, and a staggering work ethic. She is an icon of Latin American art. Originally from Buenos Aires, Auslender moved to the United States in the early 90s. She left Argentina at the height of her career, leading a much quieter life in Maine, but she did not stop working.

The series from Argentina is titled Los Cuerpos (the bodies). It is a collection of abstract portraits of women looking out windows, waiting for their children and loved ones to return home. During the time of the Dirty War, people were often taken from the streets, never to be seen again. Auslender was one of the many women who waited up at night, staring out the window. This series took her over and commandeered her practice until the Dirty War ended.

The second series is titled Wind, an abstract group of ink drawings created this year. These are the first drawings Auslender completed since the passing of her husband. They are quietly powerful explorations of circles and lines.

Exhibition Views Artist Statement Selected Works Press

Artist Statement

I never do statements because I don’t believe that a piece related to visual art should be explained with words. It must go through other channels inside the human being. What is for the eyes is for the eyes, what is for the ears is for the ears, what is for the mouth is for the mouth.

This is a different circumstance because the work I am showing now was an interruption in my life that lasted for three years and then disappeared. I was working with the series La Ciudad (the City), and suddenly these figures began to come out. I couldn’t erase them.

I wanted to stop them because they weren’t related to what I was doing, but I couldn’t. I talked with my mentor, and he told me, “Just let them come out. You don’t know how long they will last or if they will be interesting. Don’t force yourself not to do something that is coming out so strongly.”

I began to work, and the figures took me completely over like a storm. I worked non-stop. I made lots of small drawings, and then some became larger pieces. Some sold in Buenos Aires and some I am showing now.

At the beginning, I didn’t know why the figures were coming. Later, I learned. It’s strange. It’s a bit surrealistic because it’s something that I really didn’t have too much control over. They were coming and they were showing me something that was going on.

This happened during the time when the militares took over the government in Argentina. Many people were disappearing. We didn’t know where they were going. We didn’t know there were places in the city where they were torturing people. When the militares decided to leave, the trials began. I learned that these drawings began when Argentinians began to be tortured and they finished when the militares were gone.

I am not a hero, and I don’t want people to think that I am a hero or a victim of anything. I was a citizen like everybody else in Argentina, and we didn’t know everything that was going on in the country. I had a feeling that came through me that made me create what I did. This is it.

I detest violence. I am a pacifist. I don’t believe in wars. I don’t believe wars will cure or bring anything nice to a country. On the contrary, it will destroy many wonderful things that a country has, and that people have.

One piece I consider a self-portrait. Almost all the pieces are women. These works show what we felt about our men, our sons and daughters and husbands and ourselves… going out and never knowing if we were going to come back.

My ink drawings are different. I am playing, now.