
Painting in a State of Exception
New Figuration in Argentina, 1960-1965
Patrick Frank(Author)
University Press of Florida
Published on 30. May 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-0-8130-6249-5 (ISBN)
Description
Although it is one of Latin America's most significant postwar art movements, Nueva Figuracion has long been overlooked in studies of modern art. In this first comprehensive examination of the movement, Patrick Frank explores the work of four artists at its heart--Jorge de la Vega, Luis Felipe Noe, Romulo Maccio, and Ernesto Deira--to demonstrate the importance of their work in the transnational development of modern art.
The artists were responding directly to a difficult and chaotic period characterized by civil strife, frequent changes of government, and economic shocks. They broke new ground in Latin American art, not only in their technique, but also in the way they engaged the social, political, and cultural climate in an Argentina still recovering from the Peron years. Building on postwar expressionism by working with unprecedented urgency and abandon, they combined spontaneous techniques of abstraction with collage elements and figural subjects. Their works exercised a creative freedom that broke taboos about the role of the artist in society. Frank combines analyses of each artist's paintings with discussions of their social, political, and artistic contexts. He reveals the works' connections to literature, popular culture, and film, broadening our understanding of modern art in the early 1960s.
The artists were responding directly to a difficult and chaotic period characterized by civil strife, frequent changes of government, and economic shocks. They broke new ground in Latin American art, not only in their technique, but also in the way they engaged the social, political, and cultural climate in an Argentina still recovering from the Peron years. Building on postwar expressionism by working with unprecedented urgency and abandon, they combined spontaneous techniques of abstraction with collage elements and figural subjects. Their works exercised a creative freedom that broke taboos about the role of the artist in society. Frank combines analyses of each artist's paintings with discussions of their social, political, and artistic contexts. He reveals the works' connections to literature, popular culture, and film, broadening our understanding of modern art in the early 1960s.
Reviews / Votes
Brings long overdue recognition and reevaluation to Nueva Figuracion. Offers a contemporary reexamination of the artworks beyond that of Argentina's complex political history for a more global interpretation."" - Carol Damian, author of Neorealism and Contemporary Colombian Painting""Chronicles an important and little-known episode in the history of Argentine art and thoughtfully locates the movement within the complex cultural and political landscape of its time."" - Abigail McEwen, University of Maryland, College Park
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Florida
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
43 colour photographs, 23 black & white photographs
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
386 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8130-6249-5 (9780813062495)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Patrick Frank is the author of various books, including Los Artistas del Pueblo: Prints and Workers' Culture in Buenos Aires, 1917-1935 and Posada's Broadsheets: Mexican Popular Imagery, 1890-1910.