“The raw drawings in the “MANeuvers” Series were created by Isabel De Obaldía in 1988, during a turbulent time in Panama’s political history. During that year, there was a failed coup against General Manuel Antonio Noriega (the “Man”), whose organizers were later tortured and imprisoned, an economic crisis due to a U.S.-imposed blockade on local banks, in addition to countless public demonstrations against the government, just to mention some of the facts.

The iconography in these works, which were drawn with a deceptively light hand, echoes events and stories that circulated at the time. They depict terrifying anecdotes about opponents being thrown out of helicopters into the sea, torture chambers, evil rituals, and armed robberies and threats, all of which reflected the difficult circumstances that kept the people of Panama in a permanent state of anguish and frustration.

This series of works on paper was first shown at the Drawing Center in New York in November 1989 and then in January 1990 at the Habitante Gallery in Panama.”

- Monica Kupfer, Panama, An invasion in 4 times, Museum of Contemporary art of Panama, 2019