Exquisite Cadavers speaks of bodies, remains and how they are manipulated after death, a history which crosses continents and yet is deeply rooted in America. Focused on the three “political bodies” of Peron, Evita and Che, the exhibition poses the need to look beyond these uniquely Argentine cases. There are similar examples throughout the world which evoke reflection, one which resounds in these works. There is not much in the way of self-criticism concerning such aberrant acts as cutting off people’s hands, testicles, ears or breasts as proof of death. These are ancient practices, yet ones still observed. Bodies can be also manipulated in more sophisticated fashion. The figure of the disappeared is one of the most perverse forms imaginable used to control people and history, and to wreak punishment. It involves appropriating the life of another by wresting away their very death, meaning that which defines their humanity.
