In 1964 the director of the Biennale di Venezia’s Historic Archive of Contemporary Art, Umbro Apollonio, served as a member of the jury at the Bienal de Córdoba (Argentina). Later that year he was invited to the sculpture competition organized by the Instituto General Electric in Montevideo.
By attending these events as a representative of the Biennale, Apollonio spoke on behalf of the highly respected Italian institution when he compared what was happening in the major international movements with the art being produced in the Río de la Plata region and, more broadly, in Latin America. Apollonio said that, currently, the tendency was to pigeon hole art in terms of dogmas and styles. He suggested reflecting on the concept of “freedom in art” since—although art in the 1960s seemed to be heading toward a total synthesis of expressions—the habit of labeling art was a sure way to suffocate its diversity of expression. In his opinion, the idea of the “free artist” is a myth, given that artists are tied to dogmas or preexisting languages. As a juror at the Bienal de Córdoba, he criticized certain Latin American artists who were identified as exponents of an “American art” that, in his view, was merely an adaptation of European models. Finally, Apollonio disagreed with the (categorical) dualism between abstract and figurative artists, with the distinction made between painting and printmaking, and with the definition of stylistic standards. His message was simple: “make art” that has no labels.