Rimer Cardillo is an internationally recognized graphic artist who received an M.F.A. from the National School of Fine Arts in Uruguay in 1968, and studied in Germany at the Weissenssee School of Art and Architecture in Berlin and the Leipzig School of Graphic Arts. Cardillo’s work, particularly his installations, use a variety of materials including works on paper, clay, wood, terracotta, photography, silkscreen, and found objects. He often deals with issue concerning ecology, the destruction of the environment, the disappearance of memory and native peoples of the Americas and other parts of the world.

Cardillo has had solo exhibitions throughout Latin America, Sweden and the United States. He has participated in group exhibitions and important print biennials all over the world, from Western Europe and the United States to Eastern Europe, South Africa, and the Far East. In 1998 The Bronx Museum of the Arts exhibited a ten-year survey of his work. In 2001 he represented Uruguay at the Venice Biennial. His work is featured in many public collections around the world, among them Cabinet des Estampes, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Prints Cabinet of Berlin, Museo de Artes Visuales, Montevideo. He is currently Professor at the State University of New York, New Paltz.

In this interview from 2003, curator and writer Anamaría Forteza speaks to Cardillo about his recent work as well as his interest in pre-colombian history and archeology.