Renown photogravure artist Josephine Sacabo’s powerful, precise dominion over shadow and light will grace the walls of the Fine and Performing Arts Gallery at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) with THE RIGHT TO DREAM – regreso a mi pueblo, which opens with a reception Friday, August 28th from 6 to 8 p.m.
The Laredo born artist who lives and works in New Orleans and San Miguel de Allende returns to her hometown with a stunning exhibit of work from five significant series —TAGGED – 2018; Barking at God – 2017; Juana and the Structures of Reverie – 2015; Óyeme con Los Ojos – 2011; and El Mundo Inalcanzable de Susana San Juan –1997.
Of the intensity and drive she has committed to her work over five decades, Sacabo said, “I have never stopped working. I have continued to create a new body of work approximately every two years, each leading to a new exhibition. During that time, I have also published thirteen books. Most of my work has been based on what I have read and wanted to express in pictures. I have been strongly influenced by literature, especially the writings of Clarice Lispector, Rainer Maria Rilke, Baudelaire, Pedro Salinas, Vicente Huidobro, Juan Rulfo, Mallarmé, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.”
Her Artist Statement offers this concise assessment of her relationship to her work: “I believe in art as a means of transcendence and connection. My images are simply what I have been given. I hope they have done justice to their sources, and that they will, for a moment, in the words of Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz ‘stay the shadows of contentment too short lived.’”
Anticipating the upcoming exhibit in Laredo, Sacabo said, “I am thrilled to share my life’s work with the place where it all began. It means so much to come home for this exhibition, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to show my family and friends what I have done with my life.”
Several of Sacabo’s books will be available for purchase in the gallery, including the recent Luna Press release of El Mundo Inalcanzable de Susana San Juan.
Sacabo’s Artist Talk, which is scheduled for Thursday, August 27th , from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the TAMIU Academic Innovation Center, is open to the public. TAMIU art students will have the opportunity to attend two photogravure demonstrations led by New Orleans artist and master printer Meg Turner, one of Sacabo’s longtime printers.
Sacabo’s work has been featured in galleries and museum exhibits in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe and is included in numerous public and private collections, including the George Eastman House, New Orleans Museum of Art, the International Center of Photography, and the Bibliothèque Nationale.
“We are honored to bring Ms. Sacabo to the city where her life began,” said Alyssa Cigarroa, founder of Daphne Art Foundation. “A great deal of planning on Ms. Sacabo’s part and our collaboration with TAMIU and artist and printmaker Jesse Shaw bear the promise of an exciting subjective, introspective exhibit,” she added.
THE RIGHT TO DREAM – regreso a mi pueblo closes October 9th.
(For a wealth of information on Sacabo’s life in art, visit josephinesacabo.com. Read, too, printmaker Jesse Shaw’s “Josephine Sacabo and the Traditon of Graphic Art” in the July 2026 online version of Tragaluz at tragaluzjournal.org)
