Red Wig
During the 1960’s, upper middle class women in Buenos Aires Argentina wore fashionable wigs and expensive clothes. I think the wigs were a way to hide from the brutality around us. In June 1966, the military in Argentina overthrew the government and began a period of dictatorship that lasted well into the following two decades. The coupe was a precursor to the Dirty War (la Guerra Sucia) which lasted until 1983, during which the military and right-wing death squads hunted down political dissidents, resulting in the brutal death of up to 30,000 people at the hands of the military. This collage depicts how I remember the women of those days, before we were able to escape to the United States. The eyes express the lost hope and disillusionment. The red rose in her hand is a grasp at beauty, but also represents the bloody aftermath. Water color collage.
(c) 2021 Ernesto Beckford