The Fundación Banco Patricios was created in 1984 and became an important exhibition space in the 1990s. In March 1998, it closed its facilities with the bankruptcy of Banco Patricios.Marcelo Pombo (1959–) and Miguel Harte (1961–) have been identified with what became known as the “grupo del Rojas,” or those who the Galería del Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas promoted between 1989 and the early1990s.When it comes to the understanding of the 1990s Argentinean art, the Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas stands out as one of its cornerstones. Founded in 1984, it is a cultural extension of the Universidad de Buenos Aires in which various activities, such as courses, conferences, and movie cycles, etc. were developed. Some years after inception, the Galería del Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas was created in 1989 in the entrance hall to the campus, directed by artist and art critic Jorge Gumier-Maier. Magdalena Jitrik joined him shortly thereafter as an assistant. A fringe space within the Buenos Aires art scene at the time, it began to acquire significant visibility between 1991 and 1992. In this way, the artists from “El Rojas” began to be included in the programming of key exhibition spaces, such as the ICI (Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana), the Centro Cultural de España, the Galería Ruth Benzacar, and the Fundación Banco Patricios. The reference to poetics of the past, such as Pop art, minimalism, Concrete art (under extremely personal reformulations), besides elements of kitsch, have helped to characterize the resources of expression of such artists. Toward the end of the decade, the artists who made up “el grupo del Rojas” were grouped, in a generic manner, as the representatives of the “1990s Argentinean art.”Pablo Suárez (1937–2006), an important Argentinean artist with a long and acclaimed career, was linked to the Galería del Rojas since inception. In December 1989 he, along with Marcelo Pombo and Miguel Harte, carried out in that space the first joint exhibition of these three artists, which in time was named Harte, Pombo, Suárez I. Later, in 1990, Harte, Pombo, Suárez II was produced (Buenos Aires: Centro Cultural Recoleta, 1990); and in 2001, Harte, Pombo, Suárez IV (Buenos Aires: Galería Ruth Benzacar, from November 7 to December 7).Please see, in relation to Harte, Pombo, Suárez I, the article published by Miguel Briante in Página/12: “Cuando los costados encierran el centro. Un líder de la periferia y dos de sus jóvenes seguidores establecen dos o tres nuevas pautas para ver lo común” [When the sides enclose the center. A peripheral leader and two of his young followers establish two or three new guidelines to perceive what is common] (December 19, 1989, record 770086). Additionally, in relation to Harte, Pombo, Suárez III, please see the article published by Fabián Lebenglik in Página/12: “La tercera es la vencida. Harte, Pombo, Suárez” [The third time is the last one] (November 17, 1992, record 769281) and the exhibition catalog (record 769239).
