Libero Badii (Arezzo, Italy, 1916-Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2001) primarily developed sculpture with symbolic meanings. In the1950s, his work was impacted formally by Pre-Columbian art after a trip through Latin America. He elaborated his concept of "the sinister," both as a form of knowledge and of feeling. He called his studio-workshop Almataller [SoulShop].
Antonio Sibellino (1891-1960) is one of the preeminent sculptors of Argentinean art, a leading player in the modernization of the 1920s. In the late-1940s, he begins to work on human figures with hats, which imply a renovation of his conception of the sculptural medium.
It is interesting to think about the existence of a network of connections in Argentinean art, shaped by the specificity of an art language like sculpture, breaking through both generational, aesthetic and political pigeon-holing. This document is important for understanding Líbero Badii's relationship with the sculptors of the previous generation, in regards to his sculptural renewal and specifically around the theoretical discussion about sculpture; even the problems faced by the younger generation. Furthermore, it is important because it positions Badii's work in an arena of complex debate in which the modernizing tradition (begun by Sibellino) coexists with the reading of the Pre-Columbian legacy, which later on will be synthesized as chromatic value.
