Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

Kenneth Kemble writes about the architect and painter Clorindo Testa, focusing on his ability to work with the essential. Kemble discusses Testa’s exhibition of abstract paintings at Galería Bonino (Buenos Aires) and is taken aback with the use of [...]

This document contains two texts, one by Rubén Santantonín and another by Kenneth Kemble, as well as a reproduction of the work by Santantonín that was part of the national selections for the 1963 Premio Internacional de Pintura del Intituto [...]

Kenneth Kemble tackles the authorship of an idea of destructive art, which is more an experimentation than an -ism. In his view, destructive art evokes the diversity of man’s essential needs: destruction as emotion, the pleasure and the [...]

Kenneth Kemble responds to questions about art criticism. Among other thoughts, Kemble states that the critic is a public servant, an intermediary to the service of art, whose duty is to inform, elucidate, and describe. Criticism serves to educate [...]

Kenneth Kemble wrote the introduction for his exhibition at the Galería Pizarro. He mentioned “1954” as the inception of his work with collages created with extra-pictorial materials. Kemble analyzed, as well, the use of tin and rusty metals, [...]

Kenneth Kemble presents the works he created since 1956. He explains the collage from his point of view. arguing that the search for experimentation with application of new materials is fundamental in the new visual arts. Unlike the surrealist [...]

Kemble develops a historical and formalist view of art, both from a Western and Eastern perspective, to arrive at the stylistic evolution present in both the 20th century and in his own work, which he analyzes from inception and through his personal [...]

Kenneth Kemble praises the exhibitions of three artists: Pablo Curatella Manes, Carlos Squirru, and Kazuya Sakai, all from quite dissimilar generations, different racial origins and artistic influences. These differences make it possible to sketch a [...]

Kenneth Kemble writes with praise of the exhibition of prewar American painters. He establishes the reasons for the artworks’ worth and—given the public’s conditioned French taste—the exhibition’s instructive relevance. Kemble even examines [...]

Kenneth Kemble reviews the work of Martin Bradley, an artist shown at Galería Rubbers in Buenos Aires. Kemble mentions his trips, critical comments, and artistic influences, showing Bradley’s work as an example of contemporary British art [...]

Kenneth Kemble writes about Luis Alberto Wells and Rubén Santantonín and considers them to be artistas malditos [“maudit”] artists presenting an innovative art; although, it was difficult for the public attending at Galería Lirolay to digest [...]

Kenneth Kemble comments on the award granted at the São Paulo Biennial to the Argentinean sculptress, Alicia Penalba, living in Paris. This matter allows him to analyze the exodus of artists of the new generation in search of a public with a broader [...]

Kenneth Kemble is caustic in his article about the group exhibition involving Otra Figuración[Other Figuration] carried out by the Galería Peuser. Ironically, he proposes a game of counting heads amongst the paint spills, adding that children [...]

Kenneth Kemble writes about the exhibition of Catalonian artist Antoni Tàpies at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes [National Museum of Fine Arts], organized by the Instituto Di Tella. The success of his oeuvre does not move Kemble; none of it [...]

Kenneth Kemble wrote about the city’s art market in Buenos Aires, noting its special features; an important aspect for the critic and Informalist artist, given that he believed the market was a sanctionizing mechanism. In addition, Kemble bears [...]

Kenneth Kemble reviews the exhibition by sculptor Carlos de la Motta at Galería Pizarro. It involves his metal sculptures, whose inventiveness and quality surprised the critic. The same gallery exhibits the Uruguayan painter Jorge Páez with [...]

Kenneth Kemble wrote about two exhibitions by artists who are presently not well known: Juan Badaracco and Sergio Ferraro. Through formal examination, Kemble pointed out qualities galore and pictorial sensibility in such works. Kemble especially [...]

In this document, Kenneth Kemble writes in defense of Argentinean art and counters the negative opinions made by art criticism in Scotland on a contemporary Argentinean painting and sculpture that were shown in Edinburgh. He states his rebuttal of [...]

Kenneth Kemble writes about the dilemma of being simultaneously an art critic and an artist, mainly when one’s own work is being exhibited. The matter is worsened by having his wife, Silvia Torrás, included in the show as well. Also, Kemble [...]

Kenneth Kemble wrote about Antonio Seguí’s international career to feature the international character of the new generation of Argentinean artists he belonged. In this context of acceptance by the international marketplace, the production by [...]

Kenneth Kemble writes about the collective art exhibition at Galería Bonino (Buenos Aires) by artists Martha Peluffo, Jorge de la Vega, Juan C. Badaracco, and Rómulo Macció. He introduces them as the new academy of good taste, [...]

Kenneth Kemble writes about the exhibitions taking place in several galleries. By observing the works of five female artists, he is able to analyze the variables in Argentinean art at that moment. Based on a formal analysis of this production, he [...]

Kenneth Kemble writes about the exhibition at Galería Van Riel on Argentinean art over the last thirty years. Since all the artworks stem from European art, Kemble does not consider any to be exceptional. He compares the exhibition to the irreverent [...]

Kenneth Kemble affirms that the multiplicity and vitality of Argentinean art—at the moment—are considerable; above all, in comparison to art from other countries. This allows him to suggest the existence of a new art [...]

Kenneth Kemble writes about Mario Pucciarelli, his social background, the absence of an education, and his local and international success at the time. He also reviews the exhibition of Rómulo Macció, one of the most talented of the young artists [...]

In this document, Kenneth Kemble writes about the project of the Fundación Torcuato Di Tella and the creation of an Art Center based on the idea that industrial progress must be accompanied by the development of culture. The collection was exhibited [...]

Kenneth Kemble writes that the Palanza Award was a disappointment because those who were invited to participate, the great majority of them, showed works of a lesser quality; also, he believes that a shift in the public’s aesthetic taste has taken [...]

Kenneth Kemble points out the characteristics of Generative art. He mentions Rafael Squirru’s lecture. Kemble is ironic about geometry and the aesthetic value of the cow (regarding the rancher and collector, Ignacio Pirovano). He highlights the [...]

Kemble narrates the anecdote of an exhibition by Alberto Greco at the Museo Sívori which was based on a tree and was part of a New Artshow. He took advantage of the exhibition to stress problems pertaining to an understanding of abstract art [...]

Kenneth Kemble mentions the Museo Etnográfico, because of an exhibition of primitive Latin American art at the Wildenstein Gallery. He emphasizes the formalist values of the Araucanian carvings and the ceramics. Moreover, he reviews the Spanish [...]

Favorable critique of the works of ModestCuixart Tàpies, an artist from Barcelona who according to Kenneth Kemble required careful observation for their understanding, due to a certain intensity, refinement, and ambiguity. On the other hand, he [...]