Kenneth Kemble (Buenos Aires, 1923–1998) was one of the key artists of the Informalist movement in Argentina. Beginning in 1956, he experimented with collages, assemblages, reliefs, as well as informal and sign painting. Kemble participated in the exhibitions of the Asociación Arte Nuevo [New Art Association], a bastion of abstract trends. In 1959, he was part of the exhibition Movimiento Informal [Informalist Movement] at the Van Riel Gallery. In 1961, Kemble was the driving force behind the exhibition that presented arte destructivo [destructive art]. He practiced art criticism, mainly at the Buenos Aires Herald (a newspaper for the English community in the capital, founded in 1876) between 1960 and 1963. Afterwards, he continued his written reflections, with an emphasis on the theory of creative process.
Rafael F. Squirru (Buenos Aires, 1925) was the director of the Museo de Arte Moderno (founded in 1956), in Buenos Aires; also, he was the principal driving force of the Informalist movement, both within art criticism and during its institutional tenure. Squirru held cultural positions at the OEA [Organization of American States] and at the Argentinean Foreign Office, where he promoted the production of Alicia Penalba and Antonio Berni, among others.
The exhibition was composed of works by Kemble from 1950 to 1963, his most significative artistic period; the artist was introduced by the critic closest to him, Rafael F. Squirru, director of the Museo de Arte Moderno. Since this museum did not have its own venue, it organized and sponsored exhibitions in various galleries. What is shown here is a document of interest for understanding the arguments over the Avant-garde and the hostility of the art milieu against it in Argentina during the 1960s. This was a topic that Kemble also focused in his critical writings on art of the times.
