Kenneth Kemble (Buenos Aires, 1923–1998) was one of the key artists of the Informalist Movement in Argentina. Since 1956, he experimented with collages, assemblages, reliefs, and 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 the 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.
This exhibition, shown at the Galería Peuser in 1960, was Kemble’s first solo exhibition. It was sponsored by the Museo de Arte Moderno, and Rafael Squirru, its director. Since this museum did not have its own venue, it organized and sponsored exhibitions in various galleries. Kemble exhibited paintings influenced by the work of Robert Motherwell, in which black over white pieces predominated. Kemble’s paintings were resolved in large format. Chosen fragments of gestual painting were introduced after having previously conceived on paper. All this in accordance with the artist’s interest in Eastern calligraphy—a subject widely shared with Squirru.
