Art Under Political Duress
Libro Internacional, 1976-80
Edgardo Antonio Vigo (1928-1997), editor
Artists' book/magazine
Between 1976 and 1980, Edgardo Antonio Vigo published three issues of his International Book or Libro Internacional. Similarly to an assembling, Vigo solicited contributions from peers in the mail art network and afterwards assembled them into a publication that he distributed widely throughout his network. Each sheet was thus a multiple original contributed by each of the participating artists.
Put Your Protest on This Wall, [1980?]
Leonhard Frank Duch (1940-)
Artists' book
Art is a Prison: Horacio Zabala's Project-book, 1977
Horacio Zabala (1943-)
Poster
Argentine artist Horacio Zabala left Argentina in 1976 after a coup overthrew the democratically elected government and ruled the country as a military dictatorship. While exiled in Europe, Zabala began collaborating with the mail art network by sending through the mail postcards, drawings, or documents labeled with the phrase “Today, art is a prison.” Although seldom mentioning explicitly the military government of Argentina and the dire conditions experienced in the country, Zabala’s work called attention to the plight of artists living under conditions of censorship and repression.
