Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

This document was part of the action with the same name—¡Ay sudamerica! 400.000 Textos sobre Santiago—[Ay, South America! 400,000 Texts over Santiago] carried out by C.A.D.A. (Colectivo de Acciones de Arte) [Art Action Collective] in 1981 in [...]

The art critic Juan Climent thought that Rufino Tamayo’s painting was caught in the crossfire of conflicting opinions. Some thought that his œuvre represented the decadent formalism of the School of Paris, but others saw it as the dawn of a new [...]

In this article, Roger Plá refers to Contrapunto magazine’s strategy of inviting artists to discuss the future of painting. The survey asked the following questions: 1. In your opinion, what is the material future of painting (as regards its [...]

In response to the absence of artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris at the Contemporary Spanish Art Exhibition shown at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in December 1947, the Argentinian artists expressed their disagreement by signing a [...]

This essay on the subject of 111 the work by Nuno Ramos is divided into three parts. The art critic Alberto Tassinari begins by describing the sociopolitical, cultural, and ideological conditions in Brazil on October 2, 1992, when military police put [...]

This article by C.A.D.A. (Colectivo Acciones de Arte) describes the group’s participation in the IN/OUT exhibition in Washington, DC. Due to the international nature of the exhibition, the text points out differences, provides some context for [...]

This is a report on the opening of the exhibition Os artistas pelas Diretas at the entranceway of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper facilities in February 1984. The management of the newspaper, in conjunction with various artists, conceived the [...]

This short news item was prepared as sketchy materials for press release  shortly after the inauguration of the Tucumán Arde [Tucumán Is Burning] exhibition at the CGT (Confederación General del Trabajo) in Rosario. The circumstances of the [...]

The author reveals a certain openness when he suggests that the experience created by the avant-garde of Rosario, Argentina, that led to Tucumán Arde [Tucumán is Burning] could be a potential bridge to what he considers the only valid “ [...]

León Ferrari writes a detailed evaluation of Tucumán Arde [Tucumán is Burning], framing it within the previous events (Itinerario del ’68) [Timetable for 1968]. In it he points out that “its purpose was to make art into a revolutionary tool, [...]

León Ferrari sketches his idea for the Christ mounted on a fighter jet for the piece he submitted to the Torcuato Di Tella Institute’s 1965 National and International Prize. This work would be known as Civilización Occidental y Cristiana [Western [...]

This article, published in the young newsmagazine Boom (Rosario, Argentina, November 1968), narrates what happened during the “lock-up” action carried out by Graciela Carnevale at the “Ciclo de Arte Experimental” [Experimental Practices of [...]

Juan Grela speaks about painting in the city of Rosario at his lecture, beginning with the Mutualidad [Society]. He refers to his respect for the university and his long-standing relationship with Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art]. The author tells [...]

This text consists of comments by Puerto Rican artist Elizam Escobar, regarding the various concepts and functions of art. In the quotations alongside or below the illustrations of his paintings, Escobar talks about what it means to be Puerto Rican. [...]

This chronology begins in January and February of 1968, the starting point of the vanguard artists’ radicalization of that year, with a series of informal discussions about “the possibility of creating a cultural phenomenon” that would be “ [...]

Jorge Romero Brest, the art critic and director of the Centro de Artes Visuales [Center for the Visual Arts], writes about the style and attitude he sees in Antonio Berni’s work, discussing the changes that can be observed in the artist’s [...]

León Ferrari notes that he has not produced any other works since the Torcuato Di Tella Institute’s 1965 National and International Prize. Ferrari explains that he has been busy working on his book, Palabras ajenas [Other People’s Words], which [...]

[Literary critic and intellectual] Nicolás Rosa presented this text for discussion at the Primer Encuentro Nacional del Arte de Vanguardia [First National Encounter of Avant-garde Art] (Rosario, Argentina, 1968). It appeals to the communications [...]

This early declaration—most likely written when Tucumán Arde [Tucumán Is Burning] was taking shape (early October 1968)—presents some of the basic ideas behind the group’s collective work. First, it denounces General Juan Carlos Onganía’s [...]

The text clarifies that upon agreeing to the organization of a Contrabienal, as a protest against the 1971 São Paulo Biennial, the MICLA [Latin American Cultural Independence Movement] is not replacing one exhibition for another. Instead, it is [...]

Operating from Argentina, the Movimiento Espartaco [Spartacus Movement] argued that there was a need for national and revolutionary Latin American art. According to this argument, it would be necessary to eliminate from the social order the economic [...]

In this document, signed in 1968, the Grupo Espartaco [Spartacus Group] announces the end of the joint activities they had begun in 1959. The group’s original goal was to create an art of forms and content that was truly Argentine and that was also [...]

León Ferrari prepares a sketch to send to theTorcuato Di Tella Institute’s 1965 National and International Prize [...]

The first phase of the Tucumán Arde [Tucumán Is Burning] campaign began with the appearance of advertising posters bearing the word “Tucumán” pasted on walls in Rosario, especially in the industrial workers’ neighborhoods. The posters [...]

This declaration presents a series of definitions upon which the Tucumán Arde [Tucumán Is Burning] exhibition was founded. It defines it as “a collective work that, as it employs new channels of communication and expression, empowers the creation [...]

This page done by the group C.A.D.A. (Colectivo Acciones de Arte) [Art Action Collective] was political commentary in the form of a magazine insert. Such an insertion was included among the activities specified in the art action, Para no morir de [...]

Gérald Gassiot-Talabot writes about discovering Antonio Berni’s work at the Venice Biennial, and describes the Ramona Montiel series. He speaks poetically about the artist’s Monsters, discussing the allegorical aspect of Berni’s production, [...]

In the declaration they issued as a companion statement to the Tucumán Arde [Tucumán Is Burning] exhibition in Buenos Aires, the artists condemn the regime’s violent excesses that, though subtle when applied to the arts, are nonetheless intent on [...]

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 [...]

Rafael Alberti, the poet, mentions León Ferrari’s Vietnam War pieces, and savors the irony of a possible exhibition of those political works at the Torcuato Di Tella Institute. He tells Ferrari how an artist should react, at a political level, vis [...]

In this letter, the painter [and writer] Roubaix de l’Abrie Richey, known by the pseudonym, “Robo,” the husband of the Italian artist and photographer, Tina Modotti, writes to Edward Weston from Mexico City. The writer is visiting Mexico in [...]

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 discusses the proofs of the drawings for Escrito en el aire [Written in the Air] as well as other matters concerning the publication of the book. He mentions Ferrari’s exhibition at the Lirolay Gallery (April 1 – 15, 1964), and his [...]

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 [...]

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 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 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 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 [...]

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 [...]

Rafael Alberti discusses the controversy that erupted over León Ferrari’s exhibition at theTorcuato Di Tella Institute in response to critical reviews regarding the political nature of the works involved. The poet goes on to talk about Anticolo [...]

This letter by León Ferrari responds to the concepts raised by Ernesto Ramallo in the article “Los artistas argentinos en el Premio Di Tella 1965” [The Argentinean Artists in the Premio Di Tella 1965] published in the newspaper La Prensa [The [...]

León Ferrari’s letter states that, after he exhibited some works whose content condemned the United States intervention in Vietnam, the newspaper La Prensa [The Press] accused him of being “communist.” Consequently he wrote his response that [...]

León Ferrari writes to Leopoldo Maler about sending a copy of his book, Palabras ajenas [Other People’s Words] and about a possible stage version to be produced in England. He refers to the increasing politicization of Argentine artists, and [...]

León Ferrari discusses certain aspects of the press coverage of his book, Palabras ajenas [Other People’s Words]. He writes about the artistic milieu and the controversy stirred up by artists in response to the Torcuato Di Tella Institute’s [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 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 [...]

León Ferrari writes to Leopoldo Maler about Palabras ajenas [Other People’s Words], telling him where he has sent the book and mentioning that Inda Ledesma might produce a stage version in Buenos Aires. Ferrari comments on the repression of [...]