Dated 1997, this text by Pablo Oyarzún (b. 1950) was published in 2003 in El rabo del ojo: ejercicios y conatos de crítica [The Corner of the Eye: Critical Exercises and Attempts], a book of essays and articles about art that had been published in various books and exhibition catalogues. [Other texts about artists included in that publication can be found in the ICAA Digital Archive: "Sobre Virginia Errázuriz: pequeña poética de sus instalaciones" (doc. no. 744954); about Díaz, "Estética de la sed Lonquén 10 años, diez años después" (doc. no. 734853); and Francisco Brugnoli, "Un cenotafio" (744945)].
The notes at the end of the book state that "El día de Díaz" was unpublished. However, the text appears in the exhibition catalogue Chile/Austria ein künstlerischer dialog [Chile/Austria: An Artists’ Dialogue]. The traveling exhibition (1999–2000) presented shows in Austria and Germany, as well as at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santiago, and included works by twelve Chilean artists and twelve Austrians. It was curated by Peter Assman, the Austrian writer and visual artist who has directed institutions such as the Palazzo Ducale de Mantua and the Austrian National Museum. The catalogue includes texts by Milan Ivelic (b. 1935), Georg Schöllhammer (b. 1958), Justo Pastor Mellado (b. 1949), and Burghart Schmidt (b. 1942), all of whom developed links between the two art milieus.
Biografía is a work that addresses issues that Gonzalo Díaz (b. 1947) explored thoroughly, such as Article 1081 of Chile’s Civil Code and Freudian theory, which he combined with portraits of his daughters and an outline of his biography.
