Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

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 [...]

In this essay “El caso Simón Bolívar o el arte como zona de disturbios” (The Simón Bolívar Case, or Art as a Site of Civil Unrest), Nelly Richard addresses the outrage expressed in the Santiago press and by the general [...]

An anticommunist and anti-Semitic interpretation of the lecture given by David Alfaro Siqueiros in the building of the Agrupación de Artistas Signo; the text contains aggressive and derogatory statements towards both groups [...]

In this article, the avant-garde poet José Juan Tablada states his points of view on such aesthetic questions as the “art for art” trend, the relationship between art and politics, and the intrinsic nature of popular art. According to Eduardo [...]

 In this unpublished text, [Margarita] Paksa traces the art history of western culture for the preceding five centuries. Her thesis is that the configuration of a new society would allocate an entirely different function to art within the immediate [...]

This article reports on Eduardo Ruano’s budding artistic career, which was interrupted by his violent political actions at the museum. It also shows that the authorities were mistaken in believing that Ruano’s work was actually the panel that had [...]

The editorial  note considers David Alfaro Siqueiros detrimental to Argentinean identity through his painting and Communist political activism. Bandera Argentina [Argentinean Flag] considers itself an anti-Communist force that believes Communism is [...]

María Esther Vázquez interviews artists Antonio Berni and Raúl Soldi who speak of an artist’s commitment to his or her work, the opportunities that they came upon in their early careers, the risks faced by well-established artists, as well as [...]

This is an interview by Puerto Rican journalist Larissa Vázquez Zapata of Elizam Escobar, an artist and political prisoner, released after 19 years in U.S. federal prison. In the interview, he reflects on how for him, art turned into an “act of [...]

Emilio Ghilioni and Rodolfo Elizalde describe their happening as an endeavor in tandem, the result of endless rounds of critical reexamination of both avant-garde art and the deteriorating state of the traditional nexus between the artwork and the [...]

Mario Canale relates events that occurred at the National School for Decorative Arts; they concern the interaction between professors of drawing and a group of students, under the supposed influence of David Alfaro Siqueiros, who protested over the [...]

This interview with Carlos Zilio was written in conjunction with the exhibition Carlos Zilio: Arte e política, 1966–1976 held at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (MAM-Rio) in 1996. The questions put to the artists by a number of [...]

In this interview of Puerto Rican artist Elizam Escobar by journalist Leticia Cortez, the subjects discussed include politics and an overview of Escobar’s concepts as an artist and thinker. The interview also focuses on his time as a prisoner in a [...]

This document by the Equipo de Contrainformación [Counter-information Team] (the only material written by the group) is divided into three sections. The first is a declaration of principles; the second is the script for the historical account ( [...]

In this article, Atalaya criticizes the results of the literary competition organized by the Sociedad Amigos del Arte [Friends of Art Society], specifically in relation to its juries. He brands them as lacking in “independence” as well as being [...]

In this essay Pablo Oyarzún, an authority on philosophical matters, discusses Lonquén 10 años (Lonquén 10 Years), the installation by the Chilean artist Gonzalo Díaz, keeping in mind the procedures, relationships, [...]

Questioning the pertinence of the 1971 São Paulo Biennial, a letter inviting artists to participate in the Contrabienal [Counter-Biennial] was promoted and signed by artists and intellectuals who belong to both Museo Latinoamericano and the MICLA [ [...]

The critic refers to the defining features of Leon Ferrari’s work, mentioning both its extensive use of signs and its references to the alienation of modern life. The article, which has a distinctly political edge, mentions certain formal aspects [...]

Manuel López Oliva writes about the exhibition by León Ferrari in Casa de las Américas in Havana. The Cuban critic portrays Ferrari in political terms, as an anti-imperialist artist, barely referencing his artistic production (plans, photocopies, [...]

Originally published in Romanian, this unsigned text describes the career of Antonio Berni, who is presented as an intellectual and artist deeply committed to the social situation of the Argentine people. This essay was written on the occasion of the [...]

Fermín Fèvre’s response to the summons to side against the 1971 São Paulo Biennial. The art critic’s response states that the Brazilian biennial is already a corpse and therefore should not be feared [...]

The (anonymous) critic offers a formal assessment of León Ferrari’s work, pointing out the artist’s interest in the public’s reception and in creative freedom. The writer also refers to the search for an unfinished object and to the artist’s [...]

Roberto Jacoby, the artist and art critic, discusses the stage version of León Ferrari’s Palabras Ajenas [Other People’s Words] in his review of a performance, and mentions the role of the audience. Jacoby discusses the declining aesthetic [...]

Daniel Gutman points out that the Argentine Government apologizes to the artists censored in the II Certamen Nacional de Investigaciones Visuales[Second National Competition of Visual Research] and, although it will not return the amount of the [...]

In “Gestos Críticos” (Critical Gestures) Diamela Eltit, a member of the group Colectivo Acciones de Arte (C.A.D.A), discusses the art actions that were performed during the military dictatorship in Chile (1973–90). According [...]

After discussing the origins of the São Paulo Biennial and the earliest incidents of censorship imposed by Brazilian authorities on artists who submitted their work to the Paris Biennale, Matta points out that an injustice had occurred in February [...]

This text, written by Graciela Carnevale, explains her intention to lock the public into the exhibition space. She recalls being helped by Nicolás Rosa, and that the text was not circulated to the public until the happening was over. Carnevale makes [...]

This interview with Hélio Oiticica was conducted by the anthropologist Carlos Alberto Pereira and the literary critic Heloísa Buarque de Hollanda in Rio de Janeiro on October 15, 1979. Here the artist makes a clear distinction between political [...]

Horacio Safons’s response to the summons to side against the 1971 São Paulo Biennial. In his answer, Safons uses self-criticism, saying that to carry out a contra-biennial is to force himself to fight in his adversary’s field. Likewise, he [...]

This article, dated October 14, 1981, describes the death and burial of Antonio Berni, the artist, and mentions the official visitors at his funeral service [...]

This text summarizes the first class given by Jorge Romero Brest in response to the request of the Departamento de Adherentes at the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella [Department of Adherents at the Torcuato Di Tella Institute]. In this class, the critic [...]

Within the context of the historic reparation received by Gabriela Bocchi—who created Celda [Cell] in tandem with Jorge de Santa María (deceased)—and by Hugo Pereyra—who in turn conceived Made in Argentina with Ignacio Colombres (deceased)— [...]

This text is a detailed report prepared by the Tucumán Arde [Tucumán Is Burning] organizers that informed the press about the exhibition’s objectives, sent out briefly before the show’s inauguration at the CGT (Confederación General del [...]

After attending the Primer Encuentro de Plástica Latinoamericana [First Latin American Visual Arts Encounter], which took place at the Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba, Julio Le Parc and Brazilian artist Sérvulo Esmeraldo undertook the task of [...]

The Sociedad Argentina de Artistas Plásticos reports that the II Certamen Nacional de Investigaciones Visuales [Second National Visual Arts Research Competition] was not held in accordance with the Reglamento [Regulations] on November 12, 1971. The [...]

This is a proposal for a work of art, by Cildo Meireles, to be called “Inserções em Circuitos Ideológicos — Projeto Coca-Cola.” In the proposal, the Brazilian artist gives specific instructions for the execution of the project: make the [...]

In this text, Brazilian artist Cildo Meireles recalls the late sixties when he and other artists “first came into contact with what was truly of interest,” mainly acting directly on real “situations” rather than creating representations of [...]

In this short article, the Argentine critic, Alfredo Chiabra Acosta, questions the concept of originalidad [genuine making] in art. In his own terms, the writer ventures that originality does not stem from rarity or from something unlike anything [...]

The text by Julio Le Parc takes as its starting point the need to overcome individualistic ideas in order to be able to suggest future expansions. Thus, he introduces the idea with a series of questions, which, at first, refer to the general [...]

[This document is the] warrant to inspect the Centro de Artes Visuales del Instituto Torcuato Di Tella [ Visual Arts Center of the Torcuato Di Tella Institute] premises at 936 Florida, Buenos Aires. The official notice reports that obscene [...]

This article explains that, eight days after the opening of the II Certamen de Investigaciones Visuales [2nd Visual Research Contest] in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1971, the public was informed about Decree 5696, which partially acknowledged the [...]

Response made by Juan Carlos Romero to the summons to side against the 1971 São Paulo Biennial. In order to illustrate his view, Romero cuts out news pieces from the local papers, referring to kidnappings and torture, then centering on the matter of [...]

Jorge Glusberg’s open letter clarifies that, when Francisco Matarazzo invited him to organize “Arte como Idea [Art as an Idea” and “Arte Cibernético [Cybernetic Art]” at the Eleventh São Paulo Biennial (1971), he had some initial doubts [...]

Julio Le Parc responds to a request to side against the 1971 São Paulo Biennial. This artist wrote a statement in which the crisis of art is brought up. After enumerating several issues at stake, he concludes that the art’s revolution will be [...]

This article describes how, on December 7, 1971, the Sociedad Argentina de Artistas Plásticos [Argentine Society of Visual Artists] issued a statement to vigorously protest the situation provoked by the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes, the [...]

This article explains that the Argentine Association of Art Critics, whose president at the time was Basilio Uribe, circulated a statement disagreeing with the decision taken by the Ministry of Culture regarding the II Certamen Nacional de [...]

The nationalist Catholic newspaper Bandera Argentina [Argentinean Flag] writes about the lecture given by Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros at Signo facilities, an association of artists directed by Leonardo Estarico. The columnist believes that [...]

Eduardo Felipe Nero, the editor of the news agency Servicio Informativo Continental (Argentina), reports on the incidents caused by Roberto Plate’s work Baño [Bathroom]. The article comments on the reports by some media sources regarding the [...]

Mario Canale presents an evaluative reading on Mexican muralism and in particular on the proselytism carried out by David Alfaro Siqueiros in Argentina. Canale writes against the use of art as a political instrument. In his judgment, art should not [...]

Text in which Maldonado opposes the article written against Picasso published by Arriba (Arise). Also, he gives his opinions regarding propaganda art [...]