In his paper, Argentinean critic Jorge Glusberg provisionally applies the term “Latin American art,” although he considers it inadequate to define the parameters in which the “regional Latin American rhetoric” plays out. It is an analysis that is based on a semiotic-linguistic methodology. From this perspective, Glusberg defines the characteristics and difficulties of the “regional discourse” that circulates on the continent and that which he believes is its inevitable link to the methods of production, which are particularly conspicuous in Latin America because of its ongoing reference to reality. He predicts that the term “Latin America art” will finally become obsolete, because it defines only one phase of a particular process. Instead he hopes that communication networks will become extensive and that the public will become aware of their role as coauthors of artwork.

This is a text by Argentinean critic and curator Jorge Glusberg (1932?2012). It stands out from the others that were presented for its use of the science of language, semiotic linguistics, in order to analyze the problem of “Latin American identity,” specifically the debate that revolved around the Parisian magazine Tel Quel (Éditions du Seuil). In a strictly ordered manner, Glusberg lays out each argument using the terms and parameters of linguistics. Like other critics of his era, he openly rejects the term “Latin American art” to describe the art produced in these nations; above all, because he believes it is a limiting term that fosters “chauvinism.”

The Primer Encuentro Iberoamericano de Críticos de Arte y Artistas Plásticos was held in 1978, at the Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas. In addition to Jorge Glusberg, other important figures in art and art criticism participated, including Jorge Alberto Manrique, Marta Traba (see “La tradición de lo nacional” [doc. no. 815744]); Juan Acha (“La actual división técnica del trabajo artístico en América Latina” [doc. no. 815489]), Julio Le Parc (“Interrogantes” [doc. no. 815575]), Adelaida de Juan (“Cuba: revolución y plástica” [doc. no. 815544]), Carlos Rodríguez Saavedra, Jacqueline Barnitz, Berta Taracena (“Elementos constantes en el arte iberoamericano” [doc. no. 815558]), Antonio Berni (“No puedo dejar de destacar la importancia de este encuentro” [doc. no. 815659]), Galaor Carbonell (“Hacia la eventual incidencia de la revista de arte latinoamericano en nuestra identificación” [doc. no. 815603]), Marco Miliani, Alirio Rodríguez, Roberto Montero Castro (“Arte e identidad: métodos institucionales en el desarrollo cultural venezolano” [doc. no. 815631]), Élida Román (“El rol del crítico” [doc. no. 815617]), Ida Rodríguez Prampolini (“Dadá y América Latina” [doc. no. 815758]), Carlos Areán (“Iberoamérica y su identidad artística y cultural” [doc. no. 815730]), Roberto Pontual, and Aracy A. Amaral.

The “Austin Symposium” was an important forerunner to this event. The Symposium was organized by Damián C. Bayón and held at the University of Texas at Austin in late October 1975. Many of the participants at the 1978 Encuentro had attended the Austin Symposium, which provided a common ground for discussion. Bayón later published a book on this event, El artista latinoamericano y su identidad (Caracas: Monte Ávila Editores, Colección Estudios, 1977; 150 pages, illustrated in black and white).