Contemporary Argentine Art: Back To Square One
The 1970s and early 1980s saw many Argentine artists leave the country, out of justifiable fear for their lives as dozens of artists disappeared during the brutal Proceso. Some preferred to stay, using indirect means of criticizing the Philistine barbarians who governed the country. In 1971 the Centro de Arte y Comunicacion was founded by art critic Jorge Glusman (now director of the MNBA), and took over where the disbanded Centro de Artes Visuales and Romero Brest had left off - though Glusman was less dictatorial in his approach. Two key figures stand out during this period: Pablo Suarez (born 1937) whose La terraza (1983) at the MNBA is typical of his black humour and anti-Argentinidad credo, being a sardonically cruel pastiche of the Sunday asado; and his contemporary Victor Grippo (born 1936), whose Analogia I (1970-71) at the MNBA comprises forty potatoes in pigeonholes with electrodes attached, seen retrospectively as a horrific premonition of the military's torture chambers. Suarez had first had to rebel against his aristocratic estanciero family, which he did as an adolescent by fashioning erotic sculptures only to destroy them at once. Much of his later work is also sexually provocative, while poking fun at sacrosanct aspects of the Argentine way of life. His grotesque Monumento a Mate (1987) hits a raw nerve of the Argentine psyche, the national drink of mate , while his oyster-shaped sculpture La Perla: retrato de un taxi-boy (1992) depicts a naked adolescent reclining in the place of a pearl - taxi-boy is the Porteno term for a rent-boy, so-called because male prostitutes in the capital demand the "taxi-fare home" rather than payment for their services. As for Grippo, his most famous work is Analogia IV (1972), again featuring potatoes, highly symbolic as they are native to South America and successfully imported into North America, Europe and the rest of the world. In this seminal work a white table-top is laid with a china plate, metal cutlery and three potatoes, while another, black in colour, is laid with identical crockery and cutlery in transparent plastic - this mirror image of "real" and "fake" apparently represents military puppet President General Alejandro Lanusse's humiliating invitation to recall Peron from his Spanish exile in 1972. Another contemporary of theirs, Antonio Segui (born 1934), is also out on an artistic limb: his comic-like paintings, such as the untitled acrylic (1987) on show at the MNBA, depict a somewhat sinister, behatted figure in countless different poses, representing urban alienation. Younger artist Alfredo Prior (born 1952) - whose En cada sueno habita una pena (1985) at the MNBA, is one of the most horrific yet beautiful Argentine paintings produced in recent years - deliberately kept himself apart from artistic circles, rarely exhibiting his work. Minimalism and Japanese art are strong influences on his work along with Turner in his use of colour, as in Paraiso (1988). The style of Ricardo Cinalli (born 1948), who lives in London, has been described as postmodern Neoclassicism, and his Blue Box (1990) is a prime example of his original use of layers of tissue paper upon which he colours in pastel. Monica Giron (born 1959) takes her inspiration from her native Patagonia and her environmental concerns to produce innovative works like Trousseau for a Conqueror (1993) which features a pullover specially knitted for a buff-necked ibis, putting her undeniably in the same school, despite her different style, as Marta Minujin. Guillermo Kuitca (born 1961) is without a doubt Argentina's most successful contemporary artist - his paintings sell for over $100,000 at New York auctions - and in many ways he encapsulates what Argentine art has become, the way it has turned full circle. Argentina remains a country of mostly European immigrants and their descendants who, however hard they try, cannot sever the umbilical cord that links them culturally to their parents' and grandparents' homelands. Above all, Kuitca's work is highly original and makes no attempt to create something nationally Argentine - as witnessed by his beautiful painting at the MNBA, La consagracion de la primavera (1983) - but it is no coincidence that his series of maps, such as those printed onto a triptych of mattresses (1989) are almost exclusively of Germany and central Europe where his own roots are. The 1986 novel The Lost Language of Cranes , by David Leavitt, in which the son's favourite pastime is drawing maps of non-existent places, was the main inspiration for this theme, while the choreography of German creator Pina Bausch is another source of ideas for the artist. Argentine artists seem finally to have given up trying to forge the Argentinidad that Borges and his colleagues were set on inventing in the 1920s, and have acknowledged instead that, in the global village of constant interaction, personal styles and talent are more important than an attempt to create an artificial national identity through art.
your food is yummyisabella says "i think yalls food is super dooper yummy keep up the good work
" whatsamanth says "nothing. you can survive on your own. dont go there its a horrible place." what you needkatie says "bring lots of food and water. try to bring non perishable food. and bring warm and cold clothes. you will need it." Buenos Aires City of DesignBob Frassinetti says "In August 2005 Buenos Aires was appointed City of Design by the UNESCO. This is recognition the city of “good airs” shares with other top notch design areas of the world such as Berlin, Montreal.
This appointment evidences recognition towards what Buenos Aires is doing in this particular area, and it cannot be understood if not put in perspective to the recent boom that took place in this area recently. BA features a constant flow of movement in terms of design, from mind-blowing creations to average regular, items the broadness of the design movement in the Argentine capital provides a wide rainbow of options featuring something for every taste.
Buenos Aires has been among the firsts of the American Continent to take upon the challenge of design together with Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Mendoza in Argentina –as well-. The turning point in contemporary design in South America can be dated at the end of the 1950s and all throughout the 60s. The decade of 1960 was a strong decade for innovation, creation and design in the deepest sense of the words. The Arts in general had a strong input back then, and design was not an exception, from aesthetics to usefulness, Argentina has been taking upon the challenge of designing new and innovative objects ever since. After a couple of decades of ups and downs, ins and outs, always in tune with the general panorama of what was going on in our country, today, Buenos Aires is breeding and furthering some interesting aesthetic and conceptual approaches to objects.
In terms of industrial design today in Argentina, there are at several different disciplines working in an avant-garde creations and innovating in theory and practice in this sense. The range goes from industrial products to vehicles, furniture and lighting, making of Buenos Aires a design spot pretty much hyper-comprehensive in terms of design for the visitors.
An interesting insight on design in Buenos Aires is provided by worldly known Argentine architect and designer Ricardo Blanco in his book entitled Crónicas del diseño industrial en la Argentina – Chronicles of the Industrial Design in Argentina-, where he reconstructs the path of evolution thru means of a particular historical perspective and journey. Not aiming to cover the entire historical process, but more in the sense of providing an organized insight into the world of useful aesthetics, Blanco attest to evidence the intention and cultural bases of the Argentine design path.
Thru means of the current literature and the ever growing production of industrial design objects Buenos Aires takes upon new airs of discovery, as it mutates from the traditional city of beef and tango to a much more interesting and amusing spot of arts, design and aesthetics… And all in all, in the meantime we explore the new inputs of design we can always stop to enjoy the delightful Argentine cuisine and culture, but now in a broader and richer way.
Bob Frassinetti, Buenos Aires, Argentina" GanjaFaith says "look for ganja at all times"
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