Julio Escámez Production, persecution and exile (1970-1974)

Abstract

This article reviews in historical terms the participation of Julio Escámez
Carrasco in the Chilean artistic field during the government of Salvador
Allende and the vicissitudes he suffered after the civic-military coup of
1973. We propose an approach to his work emphasizing his networks of
sociability since he was a leftist artist who actively participated in the
official scene and operates in the tensions between art and politics of the
time. The analysis of the creation, reception and destruction of his mural
Principio y fin, his proposals and projects at the University of Concepción,
as well as the conditions for his exile in Costa Rica allows us to understand
the magnitude of the violence that the breakdown of democracy entailed
and the memory difficulties generated by his trauma.