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Title
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Missing # 1, Central Panel. Series: Disappeared / Desaparecidos
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Description
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This artwork is the central panel of a multi-imaged installation titled “Missing #1.” While unpacking Guatemalan folk art wrapped in newspaper ads, Vargas learned about the numerous requests from families hoping to recover or locate missing men who were forced to flee or who had disappeared. In this photograph, the outlined white figure was created using a stencil which was then sprayed painted, creating a golden halo around the figure. The figure acts as a guardian, even though it represents the disappeared. Within the body of this figure are flowers. At the lower right is a picture of the Indigenous partner of the disappeared who cradles a baby in her arms. Her image and the text are informed by the original newspaper announcement. Surrounding the image is a text by Vargas, which states, “Her face, indigenous, looked like mine and I wanted to help. The least I could do is photograph his outline, a ghostly absence, the beginning of a family portrait. But did he really leave them or is this just a coded message to document his disappearance?” The artist’s question alludes to the government’s abductions of innocent people and anyone suspected of resistance. The work also contributed to US social critique when residents discovered that their taxes supported state violence in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Gelatin silver print with hand coloring. Dimensions: 24” x 20”
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Image
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https://artist-encuentro.elevator.umn.edu/fileManager/bestDerivativeByFileId/6a8c5a775fb4683a360899b0
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Collection
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Summer 2026
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Access Rights
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© 1993, Kathy Vargas. This image may not be reproduced for commercial purposes without the written consent of the artist. The image may be used for educational personal individual uses and with credit to the artist.
