This newspaper review makes an important contribution to the creation of an overall narrative about art and its historical evolution, both within a culture and in terms of a specific political orientation. It is clear that the artists in the region want to be part of a modernizing movement that encourages the global expansion of economies and cultures. The exhibition took place at the Pabellón de Ciencias Exactas at the Ciudad Universitaria, and the Grand Prize was awarded, once again, to a Venezuelan Kinetic artist, Carlos Cruz-Diez (Jesús Soto was similarly honored at the II Bienal in 1964). Both of these prizewinning works represent the most clearly progressive expressions of concrete abstraction. The review also mentions the other prizewinners, most of whom were exponents of South American Geometric Abstraction and Kinetic art: César Pasternosto (Argentina) and Abraham Palatnik (Brazil). If we consider the prizewinners’ visual languages, it is interesting to note that, among them and the ideas that were endorsed by members of the jury, we can see a unity of criteria and objectives. Particularly in the sense that, where some seek to transcend spatial limits and traditional genre boundaries in the visual arts, others advocate going beyond national and regional limits and call for a greater opening at a continental and even global level.
The author notes the comments made by the chair of the jury, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and by Sam Hunter, director of the Jewish Museum in New York, whose presence contributed to the global nature of the event. Barr particularly recognizes the importance of presenting a selection of South American works, expressing the wish that, in the future, every country on the continent would be represented. He adds that the 1960s had created ideal conditions for the expansion of ideas about artistic freedom. Sam Hunter endorses Barr’s remarks, saying that the organization of the event in Cordoba and the works that took the top awards reaffirmed the global nature of contemporary art. The article then introduces the main prizewinners, Carlos Cruz-Diez and César Pasternosto, and provides an outline of their training and professional careers.
In spite of the universalist tone of the remarks delivered by Barr and Hunter, the writer of the article makes no attempt to hide his—blatantly nationalist—reservations, pointing out that the Grand Prize had, once again, been awarded to a Venezuelan Kinetic artist. The article also includes information about the opening of two exhibitions, one of national art and the other of handcrafts: the II Salón de Grabados Universitarios and La artesanía de la madera en territorio argentino, both at the Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes Dr. Genaro Pérez. There is also a reference to the Primeras Jornadas Americanas de Música Experimental, which, on that occasion, was part of the usual program, with concerts and a symposium.
