Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

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 [...]

In “Teoría y prácticas no-objetualistas en América Latina” [Non-Objectualist Theory and Practice in Latin America], Juan Acha, the Peruvian art critic who lived in Mexico, explains the basis of his theory concerning [...]

In this article, scholar Carla Stellweg discusses the position of New York as the world art center during the 1960s and ‘70s, which attracted many artists from Latin America who came eager to experience its artistic effervescence firsthand. [...]

In this article Damián Bayón questions the general state of the art world and the place occupied by Latin American artists within it. He defines the preeminent art trends of the time and then analyzes the way in which Latin American [...]

The question asked by French art critic Pierre Restany in this article is this: how is the political and general cultural context of the 1990s, characterized by the double presidential mandate of Carlos Saúl Menem, related to artistic [...]

The text explains that the selection criteria for the artists appearing in the exhibition Buenos Aires 64 (New York: Pepsi-Cola Co., September 1964) was to show different vanguard groups’ expressions existing in Buenos Aires. It briefly [...]

Rafael Squirru introduces Marta Minujín’s exhibition, which was held at the Galería Lirolay in Buenos Aires, in 1962. Minujín uses pieces of cardboard boxes to create her work, which is suffused with her commanding artistic [...]

The text informs about the curatorial characteristics, artists, and works that are presented at the exhibition organized by the Centro Cultural Recoleta (Buenos Aires), which is sponsored by Página/12 (Buenos Aires), under the title La vuelta [...]

The text by Horacio Safons critically analyzes the national prize. Although he agrees, with certain reservations, with the distinction awarded to Marta Minujín, he expresses his complete disagreement with the works of Emilio Renart. Safons [...]

The letter sent by artist Nicolás Rubió to Samuel Paz expresses his dissatisfaction due to the impossibility of carrying out Operación corpiño [The Bra Operation], an action that consisted of depositing a collection of [...]

The jury appointed to judge the 1964 Premio Instituto Torcuato Di Tella [Torcuato Di Tella Institute Prize]—whose members included the critics Jorge Romero Brest (Argentina), Clement Greenberg (United States), and Pierre Restany (France)— [...]

Regulations stating both which are the invited artists and the value of the prizes and norms that will be ruling the presentation of the artworks; this includes the materials to be attached and the deadlines [...]

This text by Fermín Fèvre analyzes the upheaval provoked by La Menesunda [Hodgepodge], an installation organized by Marta Minujín, listing questions that touch upon various topics: the classic question regarding “what” is art; if it belongs to [...]

This document contains an interview with Marta Minujin in El Batacazo [Thud!], presented at the Premio Internacional Torcuato Di Tella [Torcuato Di Tella International Prize]. In it she defines the concept of “suceso plástico&rdquo [...]

Within the framework of the dizzying changes taking place in the everyday life of Argentineans at that time, the article reports on the reaction provoked by La Menesunda [Hodgepodge]. After describing some of the viewers’ opinions, it [...]

This document transcribes a poster that appeared in the window of a commercial gallery near the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella [Torcuato Di Tella Institute] in Buenos Aires. The text, dated 10 p.m. on September 30, 1966, mentions the idea of [...]

This article is an interview with artist Pablo Suárez in which he is questioned regarding his actions within the Argentinean artistic scene of the 1960s. Among the diverse events he relates, he mentions the realization of the happening called [...]

This document is a catalog for the exhibition 6 artistas en Lirolay. Sexteto [Six Artists in Lirolay: Sextet] (Buenos Aires: Galería Lirolay, January–February 1964). The participating artists were: Delia Cancela, Zulema Ciordia, Pablo [...]

This article describes the characteristics of the works included in the exhibition Sexteto [Sextet] (Buenos Aires: Galería Lirolay, 1964) and reprints the artists’ opinions regarding the show’s classification as Pop art, a term [...]

This text introduces the conferences organized by Eduardo González Lanuza at Galería PROAR. His intention is not to speak from an aesthetic point of view on La Menesunda [Hodgepodge] but rather of Jorge Romero Brest’s [...]

This article is a review of the Premio Torcuato Di Tella 1966 [The Torcuato Di Tella Prize of 1966]; it describes the panorama and points out that on this occasion the Pop artists have rediscovered the attitude of creation; within it the personal is [...]

The text analyzes the happenings that took place at the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella [The Torcuato De Tella Institute] as an “exhibitionist neurosis.” It likewise makes reference to similar activities held during the same period at [...]

The text describes the environments presented in La Menesunda [Hodgepodge]. It emphasizes its scandalous nature, judging it to be an art fraud committed against the public. It refers to a survey conducted by the journalist on the attending [...]

This article reports on the publication of the book Genio y figura de Roberto J. Payró [The Genius and Figure of Roberto J. Payró] written by Eduardo González Lanuza. The author points out the imbalance between the [...]

This pamphlet critiques the Instituto Torcuato di Tellas’s “Experiencias 68” [1968 Practices] in an ironic tone. The text substitutes the name “Experiencias Visuales” [Visual Practices] for “Sexual Practices& [...]

Rafael Squirru explains that the idea for this exhibition as well as its “puesta en marcha” [initiation] arose from a conversation with Martha Minujín and Rubén Santantonín regarding the defeatist and indifferent [...]

This negative critical commentary by Daniel Alberto Dessein points out that, although the exhibition costs of La Menesunda [Hodgepodge] were well-known, its content proved so surprising to the public that it became reminiscent of the millions [...]

María Rosa G. Villar sent this letter to the newspaper Córdoba as a reaction to the commentary made by critic Ernesto Isele that appeared in this same publication under the title “Algo acerca de La Menesunda” [A Few Words [...]

This article reports on the round table organized by the Museo de Arte Moderno of Buenos Aires regarding the new attitude of artists; it also offers some of the opinions proposed [during the event]. The debate was coordinated by the director of the [...]

This text was presented by León Ferrari (1920–2013) for discussion at the Primer Encuentro Nacional del Arte de Vanguardia [First National Conference of Vanguard Art] (Rosario, Argentina, 1968); it proposed what he called an “arte [...]

This is from the catalogue of the Nuevo Arte de la Argentina [New Art of Argentina] exhibition (Buenos Aires: Instituto Torcuato Di Tella, February 18 through March 8, 1964). The document explains that the goal of the exhibition was to present, in [...]

In this apocryphal newspaper article, the author relies on a number of the standard stereotypes that were used in the Argentine press at that time to refer to experimental art: snobbishness, frivolousness, madness, partying, irrationality, [...]

Written in a mocking, ironic tone, this article describes the details of a supposed happening that never actually happenedincluding where it took place, who was there, what they were doing, etc. A strange item is mentioned: the happening was supposed [...]

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 [...]