Gradually the tune became a razor, plate 17 from Uruguayan Torture Series

Luis Camnitzer worked with the strategies of Conceptualism to address a difficult subject matter—the torture of civilians under the dictatorship that ruled Uruguay from 1973 to 1985. Based on extensive research and interviews, this series of thirty-five prints alludes to actual incidents, yet Camnitzer consciously avoided clear graphic and documentary depictions. Juxtaposing seemingly innocuous phrases and photographs, he structured a narrative that leaves viewers with the burden of imagining the dire incidents that could possibly connect text and image. Camnitzer hopes that by assuming partial authorship, viewers may experience what he calls “a perceptual and political awakening.”