Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

This art magazine article reviews the 10th Bienal de La Habana organized around the theme “Integration and Resistance in the Global Era.” It exhibits works in all media that explore the effects of globalization on economies, natural [...]

In this essay, the artist and performer Clemente Padín explains the concept of “street art and urban art” following the alternative art exhibition, Tomarte, held in the city of Rosario, Argentina, in April 1990, with the pretense [...]

This is a written testimony in poetic prose by the Argentinean artist León Ferrari, in which he describes the first of a series of calligraphic works that may be seen either as texts or drawings. He mentions the countless number of copies, tying [...]

This document presents the show A Nova Dimensão do Objeto curated by Aracy Amaral for the Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo in 1986. Without attempting to collapse the difference between sculptural works and [...]

Chilean art critic Miguel Rojas Mix provides an overview of the exhibition Art in Latin America held at the Hayward Gallery in London in mid-1989. Rojas Mix’s account attempts to explain the curatorial criteria underlying the show, its organization [...]

In this text written on the occasion of the exhibition L’Avant-Garde held at the Galería Colibrí (1965), Puerto Rican critic Ernesto Ruiz de la Mata discusses what he considers an interesting show of avant-garde prints by artists from different [...]

The critic for the newspaper La Prensa [The Press], Ernesto Ramallo, writes an unfavorable critique of the works presented at the Premio Torcuato Di Tella [Torcuato Di Tella Prize]. His review tolerates the works of Federico Manuel Peralta Ramos, [...]

This article—a summary of Tucumán Arde [Tucumán is Burning] when it was still in the process of being realized—is of interest because it identifies the work as belonging to “Arte y comunicación de masas” [Art and mass communications], [...]

Néstor García-Canclini interprets the Blueprints and Xerox copies series by León Ferrari, bringing to the fore Walter Benjamin’s concept of aura. García-Canclini is pointing out the obsessive and asphyxiating nature of Ferrari’s work and also [...]

Leopoldo Maler writes in detail about the first performance of the London stage production of Listen Here Now. A New Concert for Four Voices and a Soft Drum. He discusses the difficulties concerning the various BBC announcers involved in the [...]

Leopoldo Maler writes about the London stage production of León Ferrari’s book Palabras ajenas [Other People’s Words]. Maler mentions the direction by Jim Haynes, and quotes Haynes on his opinions about the book and its perspective on the news [...]

Rafael Alberti wrote about having mailed the calligraphy proofs for “our” Escrito en el aire [Our Writing in the Air]; the drawings had not been sent yet, because, in his opinion, an adjustment to achieve the exact tone was needed: an informal [...]

The Argentinean art critic Cayetano Córdova Iturburu responds to the survey sent by Jorge Romero Brest in regards to both to the means for and the actual selection of the artists for the 1962 Torcuato Di Tella Institute Prize. The critic proposes to [...]

Glusberg’s article describes (with a few inaccuracies) Tucumán Arde [Tucumán Is Burning] (1968), the landmark artwork/event produced by the avant-garde of Rosario, Argentina, during the period spanning 1966–68. In terms of the work involved, [...]

Julio Cortázar wrote to León Ferrari about his partial reading, only thirty pages of Palabras ajenas [Other People’s Words] which he defined in generic terms as a “tremendo oratorio” [tremendous oratory], despite it sounding ironic. Cortázar [...]

Julio Cortázar, the Argentine writer living in Paris, writes to León Ferrari, coming to his defense in the wake of the controversy reported in the Buenos Aires press over the work that Ferrari presented at the Torcuato Di Tella Institute in 1965 [...]

The document refers to the drawings that León Ferrari contributed to Punto de Vista magazine. It critiques Ferrari’s ideas concerning the relationship between art and repression, while endorsing the variety of functions that are possible in an [...]

Rafael Alberti, the Spaniard poet, remarks on how long it has been since they last wrote to each other. He refers affectionately to the Ferrari’s house in Castelar, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, and mentions his latest poems [...]

Rafael Alberti wrote to León Ferrari general comments about his trips through Europe: in Italy, Perugia, Florence, Assisi, Arezzo, Milan, and in Romania, Bucharest. He mentioned his meeting with the art dealers Schwarz and Passoni, who knew Ferrari [...]

Rafael Alberti mentions the exhibition organized by Argentine artists in Paris, referring in particular to his meeting with the artist Antonio Seguí, from Argentina. He reminisces about the times he has spent with the Ferrari family. He describes [...]

Rafael Alberti informs León Ferrari about a parcel mailed containing copies of their joint book Escrito en el aire [Written in the Air]and his book of poetry Abierto a todas horas [Open At All Time].Alberti comments that, passing through Rome, he [...]

Rafael Alberti comments on León Ferrari’s work, on photographs he sent him regarding the Vietnam War. He transcribes his poem “Vietnam.” Ironic comments about León Ferrari’s political work’s possible exhibition at Instituto Torcuato Di [...]

Rafael Alberti mentions the drawings he has received in a letter from León Ferrari. He reports on publishing issues concerning Escrito en el aire [Written in the Air], makes a few remarks, and includes an amusing drawing. In closing, he describes [...]

Rafael Alberti proposes Escrito en el aire [Written in the Air] as the title of the book, and tells Ferrari about the publishing arrangements being made in Italy. He mentions the friends in Milan who will deliver the special edition [...]

Rafael Alberti, the Spaniard poet, discusses his literary works and their publication, particularly Sonetos romanos [Roman Sonnets] and Escrito en el aire [Written in the Air]. He muses about León Ferrari’s work, and talks about his situation in [...]

Rafael Alberti asked about the changing political climate in Argentina, providing commentary on León Ferrari’s blank vote in the presidential election of 1963. Alberti mentioned a trip to Paris, showing great interest in understanding what was [...]

Leopoldo Maler writes to Ferrari. He is excited about the book, Palabras ajenas [Other People’s Words], and proposes a stage version to be produced in London, where he lives. Maler mentions certain people who might be interested, suggesting that [...]

Leopoldo Maler wrote to León Ferrari to acknowledge receipt of the work Palabras ajenas [Other People’s Words] (Buenos Aires: Falbo Editor, 1967) written by the latter. Maler, employed by the BBC in London, mentioned, in a general way, films on [...]

Eduardo Jonquieres writes from France about the political situation in Argentina and how it affects his friends. He discusses the projects and exhibitions that he’s working on, and gives Ferrari the names of some personal contacts in Europe. There [...]

Aracy Amaral, the Brazilian art critic, discusses the formal qualities of León Ferrari’s work, referring to his inventive use of a machine as a means of reproduction. She can see how Ferrari’s production was affected by the urban environment of [...]

Luis Felipe Noé, the artist and art critic, portrays León Ferrari as someone who questions reality, particularly the justice as well as aesthetics and existence itself. He places Ferrari in the hierarchy of generations, pointing out that the artist [...]

Leopoldo Maler writes about the translation of Palabras ajenas [Other People’s Words]. Maler talks about what he is working on, and reports on the writer Tomás Eloy Martínez’s opinion on the situation in Argentina. He also mentions the student [...]

Hugo Monzón welcomes León Ferrari to Buenos Aires on his return from exile. Monzón mentions the 1960s political art and Ferrari’s various forms of creative art making, describing his work by means of a concept: “module for repetition [...]

Néstor García Canclini, the anthropologist, professor, and cultural studies theoretician, interprets León Ferrari’s blue-printed and photocopied works, using the “aura” concept that was proposed by Walter Benjamin. He also underscores the [...]

León Ferrari writes a poetic text in which he describes his working method, beginning from making a line on paper through its conceptual development in space [...]

The Brazilian critic reviews Ferrari’s work in terms of the period, exploring the concept of time and the labyrinth in an obvious comparison to the work of the writer Jorge Luis Borges [...]

The art critic here composes a poetic account of how León Ferrari showed him the variety of ranges in his work, comparing it to the medieval construction of cathedrals, and evaluating how the representation of motion is carried out [...]

Exhibition catalogue of the artist León Ferrari at Galeria Van Riel, in Buenos Aires. It presents wood carving and wire sculptures. The catalogue includes a checklist [...]

The catalogue for León Ferrari’s exhibition, including biographical information [...]

This is the catalogue for León Ferrari’s first exhibition in Italy, where he presented 50 of his pieces. He is described here as an Argentine ceramic artist [...]

The catalogue for the artist’s exhibition in Milan, illustrated with photographs of his wood pieces and wire sculptures [...]

Catalogue of the first exhibition of the artist León Ferrari in Argentina [...]

Aracy Amaral, the Brazilian art critic, discusses the formal qualities of León Ferrari’s work, stressing its poetic, lyrical, and musical features. She describes it as a return to the work that Ferrari was doing in the early sixties, and talks [...]

A catalogue entry with the artist’s bio and a list of the works he entered in the Di Tella Prize Exhibition (1965), before Civilización Occidental y Cristiana [Western Christian Civilization] was removed from the exhibition. León Ferrari is [...]

Checklist of the group exhibition in Milan, Italy, involving Argentinean artists [...]

The review predicts heated future discussions over the Bible collages series known as Biblia Gofrada [Embossed Bible] exhibited by the artist. The writer refers to works in the exhibition in which León Ferrari uses images by old Masters that worked [...]

Leopoldo Maler, the artist, writes about the London stage production of Palabras ajenas [Other People’s Words], which will use BBC radio announcers; Maler was working at the BBC at the time, and mentions that the stage version will be presented at [...]

The critic mentions Ferrari’s return to Argentina and the art milieu of Buenos Aires. He also talks about the works in this exhibition as well as the ones that Ferrari created in São Paulo [...]

Adriana Malvido, the journalist, takes note of León Ferrari’s comments regarding the goals of his work. She also refers to the nexus between meaning and production, and mentions indeed the political situation in Argentina [...]

The (anonymous) critic sets forth the relationship between technique and popularization, both in its materials and in its art market value. He even mentions the process in the series by León Ferrari (Planta, Ciudad, Kamasutra, [Floor Plant, City, [...]