Since 1983 Dittborn's Airmail Paintings have travelled from the Chilean capital of Santiago where they originate via international post to exhibition venues worldwide. Initially working under the isolation of the military dictatorship in Chile, Dittborn found a way to disguise his artwork, bypass the bureaucratic system and engage in the activities of the international art world by sending his items to galleries around the world. Dittborn silkscreens, paints, photographically prints and embroiders onto inexpensive, lightweight fabric and then folds the material for travel in cardboard airmail envelopes. The itineraries of each are written onto the envelopes which are displayed along with the unfolded work. The journeys, the distances spanned and the strategies used to communicate are very much part of the work. His subtle political critique is all the more powerful because the works have a delicate, vulnerable and transitory quality similar to the information they convey. This group of three Airmail Paintings provides an insight into the development of the artist’s practice from 1986 to 2011. Nine Survivors, an early work on brown paper is extremely rare, while 13th History of the Human Face, 1991 (a work from a seminal series) and Absent Feet (an abstract tincture work from 2002–3) reflect key phases in the artist’s practice as he extended the boundaries of painting as a medium. Presented by the Art Fund through Art Fund International.

Provenance

The artist.