Among the works on view in “The Pencil Is a Key: Drawings by Incarcerated Artists” is a selection of drawings produced by Chilean artists detained during the oppressive dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Pinochet’s regime adopted aggressive measures to suppress opposition including the use of military agents to detain and torture tens of thousands of Chilean citizens suspected of political opposition. At the age of eighteen artist Rodrigo Silva Vial was detained by such military agents and subjected to long sessions of torture, harassment, and interrogation in Santiago. As a prisoner at Tres Equis prison camp, Vial was allowed limited correspondence and received a small supply of drawing materials. The text on the upper corner of the drawing of Vial's view from home pictured here reads: “This is the view from the door of my little cabin. Nice, right?” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “The Pencil is Key: Drawings by Incarcerated Artists” is on view in our Main Gallery and ...