In her essay Chile en la XII Bienal de París (Chile at the Twelfth Paris Biennial), Nelly Richard compares the history of Latin American art to the history of art (in its most visible European and North American versions) on the occasion of Chile’s presence at the twelfth Paris Biennial. In her opinion, the history of art insists that peripheral (or “other”) histories adapt or yield. Richard poses the fundamental question of how to acknowledge the emergence of a Latin American art (spawned by a throwaway society) within a system based on the centralization of information and messages. She supports her argument by referring to Carlos Leppe’s performance Prueba de artista (Artist’s Proof), which presented its Latin American discourse at a forum for international art. Richard also discusses the architectural arrangement of the Paris Biennial, which was divided into two sections: “Tradition,” consisting paintings shown inside the Musée d’Art Moderne, and “Novelty,” an area where more contemporary art forms (video installations, for example) were exhibited outside the museum.  

Prueba de artista (Artist’s Proof) was performed at the twelfth Paris Biennial in 1982. It was not sent by the Chilean government and was, therefore, not an official submission. George Boudaille, the organizer of the Paris Biennial, contacted Nelly Richard and Carlos Leppe directly to offer them a free space and ensure that Chile would be represented at the event. Richard accepted the invitation on behalf of herself and Leppe, plus Eugenio Dittborn, Carlos Altamirano, and Marcela Serrano, among others, who also exhibited their photographic works.  

Prueba de artista was jointly performed by Leppe and the artists Juan Domingo Dávila and Manuel Cárdenas in a men’s bathroom. While Dávila and Cárdenas rinsed out their clothes, Leppe read a speech aloud as he removed his own clothes to reveal the skimpy garments of a female cabaret performer. He then danced to Pérez Prado’s “Mambo No. 5,” shaved his chest, ate a cake, and vomited.   

Carlos Leppe was a member of the group that Nelly Richard dubbed the Escena de Avanzada. This concept gave them the leeway they needed to name, make connections, and analyze a range of experimental and critical ideas using new discursive strategies to avoid the censorship imposed by the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. The list of artists chosen by Richard included Eugenio Dittborn, Juan Castillo, Lotty Rosenfeld, Raúl Zurita, Juan Dávila, and Carlos Altamirano.