“El deseo de archivo de Guillermo Nuñez,” the essay by the art critic and curator Justo Pastor Mellado (b. 1949), was published in the catalogue for La quinta del sordo, the retrospective exhibition of works by Guillermo Nuñez (b. 1930). The title La quinta del sordo is a reference to Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, who painted Los desastres de la guerra (1810–20), a series of illustrations that depicted the effects of the Napoleonic invasion of Spain. Taking a similar approach, Núñez organized his retrospective to condemn the horrors of the political violence committed against humanity by an authoritarian state. He was also interested in encouraging an interaction with members of the public and, for this exhibition, produced large silkscreen prints that could be manipulated by viewers. These prints were placed outside the exhibition space and the interactions were filmed and shown as part of the event.
[For more information, see the following in the ICAA Digital Archive: “Enunciar, anunciar, denunciar: el arte como archivo” (doc. 757287) by Diamela Eltit.]
Mellado’s text is closely related to Retrato hablado (1993), the retrospective exhibition that Núñez presented a decade earlier at the MAC (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo) in Santiago, where he was the director in 1972 (before the coup d’état), for which he was awarded the Premio Círculo de Críticos de Arte. The exhibition catalogue documented the artist’s career in 14 texts that ranged from analyses of his works to artist’s statement, plus a chronology based on the artist’s personal life, work, coverage in the press, and relevant historical events. Mellado considered the catalogue to be “excessively testimonial,” leaving little space for analytical distance.
La quinta del sordo, the exhibition of works by Guillermo Núñez (b. 1930) presented at the Centro Cultural Matucana (2003), was a retrospective spanning the 30 years since the coup d’état that revoked democracy in Chile in 1973, an event that deeply affected Núñez since he was a victim of state violence. He was arrested by DINA agents in 1974, tortured, and imprisoned for several months. After he was released, in 1975, he organized the exhibition Núñez: exculturas-printuras at the Instituto Chileno-Francés de Cultura. His exhibit consisted of objects that were in cages, tied up, and packaged to highlight the political situation in the country. The exhibition was shut down the morning after it opened. A few months after being arrested again, he went to live in exile in France until 1987, when he returned to Chile. While he was overseas, he kept in constant touch with the Chilean art milieu and, from 1977 on, presented his work at group exhibitions and one-man shows.
Núñez started painting in 1956. His work was known for its political leanings and its experimental approach to visual art. In 1962, when Algeria gained its independence, he painted Que no vuelvan Djamila, a tribute to Djamila Boupacha, an activist in the Algerian struggle who gained international fame for having been imprisoned and tortured by the French colonial forces. Among other subjects, Núñez produced paintings about the Vietnam War (1963–75), the Franco dictatorship in Spain (1939–75), and the complex political situation in Latin America, especially, during those years, in South America. He was influenced by Pop Art and, as from 1966, started painting the Chilean flag in a tragic/political style. Primarily a painter, he also explored printing, installation, and artists’ books, which Mellado calls “packets.”
In 2007, Guillermo Núñez was given the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas, the highest honor awarded by the Chilean government.
