The Card Game # 2

Elizam Escobar (1948)— artist, poet, essayist, and teacher, and one of the most important figures in Puerto Rican art — has always been linked to political activism, but also to cultural and intellectual activism. As a member of a clandestine pro-independence movement, in 1980 Escobar was sentenced by the U.S. government to prison, on charges of conspiracy. Card Game 2, which was done while he was in prison, directly references the work of the same title by the Franco-Polish painter Balthus. Despite the limited space of the scene, the figures seem to have no relation to each other. The symbolic relationships seem endless. . . This is an intriguing scene, and everything seems ominous in this game of power.