Aldo Pellegrini (Rosario 1903–Buenos Aires 1973) was a distinguished poet, playwright, essayist, and art critic within Argentinean cultural circles. From the beginning, he was linked to the development of Surrealism, and he also directed various publishing projects. Pelligrini also supported and publicized various aspects of Abstract art, promoting some groups such as Artistas Modernos de la Argentina [Modern Artists of Argentina] and Asociación Arte Nuevo [New Art Association].
Juan Carlos Distéfano (1933) is a prominent Argentinean sculptor. During the 1970s, he established the Design Department of the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella and set up a graphic design studio in conjunction with Rubén Fontana in 1970. In 1964, he began to create reliefs of plaster and wire, papier maché, and fiberglass. Later, he became interested in epoxy resin treatments and began to experiment in sculpture with reinforced and strained polyester. In 1967, he was invited by Pellegrini to participate in the exhibition Surrealismo en la Argentina [Surrealism in Argentina], held at the Instituto Torcuato di Tella. In 1977, due to the persecution unleashed by the military dictatorship against artists—including Distéfano’s wife playwright Griselda Gambaro—he went into self-imposed exiled in Barcelona. He returned to Argentina just a few years later in 1979.
The exhibition J.C. Distéfano: pinturas 1965/66 [J.C. Distéfano: paintings 1965/66] was held at Galería Rubbers, August 5–18, 1966. This text deals with the exhibition held at the gallery owned by Natalio Jorge Povarché, in operation in Buenos Aires since 1957. It was selected because it documents Pellegrini’s critical opinion of Distéfano’s work: especially Pellegrini’s contemplation of the artist’s use of a new type of figuration as well as the visual effects that he produced based on his graphic design knowledge.