After he was deported from the United States, David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896–1974) traveled to Montevideo in February 1933 and on to Buenos Aires, where he set up a studio in late May. In the River Plate, he conducted technical testing and engaged in polemics based on his lecture, Los vehículos de la pintura dialéctico-subversiva [The Vehicles of Dialectical/Subversive Painting], drafted on his last trip to the United States.
In the Argentine capital, Siqueiros showed his work at Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art Association], a liberal institution that sought to modernize the arts. His controversial lectures polarized the art world between the defenders of “arte puro” [art for art’s sake] and those who defended “arte político” [political art].He contributed to the daily newspaper, Crítica, a publication that introduced modern journalism in 1913, combining reportorial sensationalism with literary quality. Its founder, the journalist and entrepreneur, Natalio Botana, adopted positions in defense of Siqueiros and later supported the exiled Spanish Republicans. Given the ambiguity of Botana’s political views, he maintained relations with socialist-leaning parties as well as with the governments that took control after the 1930 military coup. However, his newspaper did strongly oppose Nazi and fascist ideas. His newspaper called itself “la voz del pueblo” [the voice of the people], based on its attentiveness to people’s needs and claims. Botana commissioned Siqueiros to create a mural for the bar in the basement of his home, Los Granados, in the town of Don Torcuato, in the province of Buenos Aires. The team, consisting of Siqueiros, Antonio Berni (1905–1981), Lino Enea Spilimbergo (1896–1964), Juan Carlos Castagnino (1908–1972), and the Uruguayan set designer, Enrique Lázaro, created Ejercicio plástico [Plastic Exercise], a work based on projected photographs of nude figures distorted by the curved surfaces. It was executed as a fresco on cement, with technical innovations in the use of power tools and industrial silicates, on a painted surface larger than 120 m² (a little more than 100sq yds) that included ceilings, floors, and walls. After it was taken down from the walls and kept in storage for the duration of litigation that went on for decades, Ejercicio plástico was eventually restored. Mexican specialist Manuel Serrano started the restoration in 2008 and the work was finally inaugurated on December 3, 2010, on the premises of the old Aduana Taylor [building] in Buenos Aires. Present at the inauguration were presidents Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina and Felipe Calderón of Mexico. This manifesto is part of a set of documents that relate to Siqueiros while he was in Buenos Aires. The document is important for covering the technical innovations planned for the barrel vault in Don Torcuato and because it disseminated knowledge of Latin American muralism throughout the continent. In addition, the document informs about this collective work experience of the River Plate artists.
