Fredi Casco: Los fantasmas de la imagen

Photographs are not merely snapshots frozen in time, they are potent documents that grant us insight into the past. Understanding these visual artifacts as historical records, we can grasp their profound significance, as they intertwine the perspectives of the photographer, subject, and archivist in a narrative web. Over time, these images can be reexamined through fresh visual and discursive tools, inviting us to question and reinterpret their stories.

Fredi Casco, an artist with a keen eye for historical exploration, often draws inspiration from photography, whether discovered at flea markets or captured with his own camera. Rather than accepting photographs as static representations, Casco brings new life into them, transforming the medium through pencil sketches, digital enhancements, and subtle highlighting of the images’ backs. In this transformative process, he uncovers alternative stories concealed within the frames.

His thought-provoking artworks challenge viewers to reconsider how they approach photographs, transcending the conventional conceptual confines. Each piece becomes a vessel for a fresh discourse on history, where the past converges with the present in unexpected ways.

Our survey begins with Foto Zombie, a series that delves into the political life of Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner. By drawing silhouettes on the back of each print, Casco bridges historical images with a contemporary context, an approach reminiscent of Roland Barthes’ concept of the ‘spectrum.’ The figures, now spectral, haunt the present with their conceptual impact, urging us to confront their visual presence anew.

Similarly, El retorno de los brujos unveils scenes from Stroessner’s political gatherings during the tense Cold War era. Employing digital techniques, Casco intervenes in these photographs, adding intricate details that beckon the viewer to delve deeper, enticing us to question the purpose and implications of each alteration and how it reshapes the original intent.

In the second part of his series, Casco introduces text as a significant element. He explores the connections between isolated events from his own life and the experiences of British author Graham Greene in Paraguay. Here, the line between fiction and reality blurs, prompting us to contemplate the subtleties that define visual representation and the multifaceted ways we interpret images.

The third and final chapter of this series becomes a daring experiment in narrative potential. Casco appropriates the story of Josef Mengele, a notorious Nazi criminal hiding in Paraguay. The resulting photographic register is evocative of investigative documents, weaving a “false trail” that magnifies the legends surrounding the disappearance of Nazi criminals. The phantoms that once haunted Stroessner’s dictatorship are resurrected through Casco’s art, inviting us to confront this collective history.

In Los fantasmas de la imagen, Casco’s work examines how these photographs and their circulation, enriched by manual or digital enhancement, pave the way for the creation of new narratives. Acting as both an archivist and artist, Casco compels us to question what is conventionally regarded as self-evident. His artworks become a mirror reflecting the complexities of storytelling, urging us to reevaluate the official histories we often accept without question. By thoughtfully considering what lies within the frame and what remains outside, we are encouraged to critically analyze historical images, especially in an age of relentless visual consumption.