Kenneth Kemble (Buenos Aires, 1923–1998) was one of the principal artists in the Informalist movement in Argentina. Beginning in 1956, Kemble experimented with collages, assemblages, reliefs, informal paintings, and signs. Kemble frequently participated in the exhibitions of the Asociación Arte Nuevo, a hotbed for abstract art. In 1959, Kemble was part of the exhibition Movimiento Informal at the Galería Van Riel. In 1961, the artist was the motivating force behind a show that presented “destructive art.” Kemble also worked as an art critic, principally between 1960 and 1963 at the Buenos Aires Herald (a newspaper for the British community in Buenos Aires, founded in 1876). In the following decades, he continued his reflective work with an emphasis on the theory of the creative process.
Raúl González Tuñón (Buenos Aires, 1905–1974), associated with the 1920s Argentinean literary vanguard, was later a writer and poet of social approaches. His most distinguished works were La calle del agujero en la media [The Street with a Hole in the Sock] (1930), Poemas de Juancito Caminador [The Johnny Walker Poems] (1934) and La rosa blindada [The Armored Rose] (1936). A contributor to the daily Crítica, he became one of the key intellectuals of the Argentinean Left, close to the Communist Party, and was the director of the magazine Contra (1933) (see documents). Beyond this and from 1948 on, González Tuñón was also a contributor to the daily Clarín.
This critique involves Kenneth Kemble’s 1960 exhibition at Galería Lirolay, which included collages and oil paintings executed since 1956, as well as a written introduction by the artist. This document was part of a set of critiques focusing the public reception of Kemble show, in this case the negative insight of González Tuñón, one of the primary champions of political art in Argentina since the 1930s.
