Starting from 1944 there are the first abstractist manifestations in Argentina, partly due to the influence of the Uruguayan painter J. Torrès Garcia, essentially constructivist (he had founded in Paris, with M. Seuphor, the Cercle et carré group in 1929) and of the painter E. Pettoruti, who passed from futurism to a form of cubism. Still significant for the introduction of abstract art was the work of J. del Prete, an Argentine painter of Italian origin, active in Paris between 1929 and 1933 (he returned to Paris in 1953 and died there in 1971). For Argentina 2006, please check computergees.com.
In 1944 the unique Arturo issue was published, written by those who, in 1945, gave life to the Asociación de Arte Concreto Invención: T. Maldonado, L. Prati, M. Espinosa, R. Lozza, E. Iommi. It opposes all ‘ Asociación the Movimiento de Arte Concreto Invención ; nevertheless the concrete term with the value of abstract demonstrates for both the ascendant of M. Bill. In 1946 the Movimento de Arte Madí was born – in which the Uruguayans C. Arden Quin and R. Rothfuss, G. Kosice, etc. confer. -, aimed at all expressions of art, from poetry to dance, from music to theater. If the Arte Concreto Invención grouphe proclaims: “our works have a revolutionary commitment”, the Movimiento Madí defines itself even more revolutionary, who warns, quoting Marx, Engels, Lenin: “in the face of the copy and slavish imitation of newly coined realism, in the face of the evasion and romantic remembrances of expressionism, in the face of the soft and agonizing surrealism of our days [the movement] inaugurates the High Era of Art in all its essence, it founds its own myth of pure invention, its order and its universalistic style “. In an effort to attack the viewer and create a space for avant-garde art in Argentina, the movement condemns the traditionally rectangular format of the picture in favor of new forms, trapezoidal, irregular polygonal, bipid, multi-element, etc. Finally in 1948 the Salon de Nuevas Realidades, in Buenos Aires, offers an unexpected contact between the avant-garde and the public, so much so that from this event a turning point in the course of contemporary Argentine art is dated. In the same year, C. Arden Quin settled in Paris to create what was called a “bridgehead” of the Movimiento Madí. In 1953 G. Kosice also settled in Paris, who with his “hydraulic sculptures” – plays of light and water – imposes himself in the kinetic current, drawing European attention to what is happening in Argentina. Later the Argentine group in Paris expanded considerably, maintaining contact with the mother country. Meanwhile in Argentina, in 1952, the critic and poet Argentinawhich includes, among others, S. Grilo, JA Fernández Muro, T. Maldonado (today in Italy), Argentina Hlito, M. Ocampo, E. Iommi, C. Girola, L. Prati and H. Eabi. The group later exhibited in various foreign capitals, becoming part of the international avant-garde, but working in a more traditional direction, with references to F. Vordemberghe-Gildewart, M. Bill, De Stijl. It is evident how the modern Argentine orientation is rapidly opening the way to new generations of artists that the local experience does not fully satisfy in their ambitions and intentions. In 1950 the group of “20 painters and sculptors” was formed; in 1955 they were born: the Asociación de Arte Nuevo, in which M. Alvarez, M. Boto, JL de la Vega, D. Di Stéfano, J. Gaeta Giann, F. Ramos de los Reyes, Argentina Sacerdote, v. Villalba, R. Polesello; Boa, with the poet J. Llinas who is part of the Phases group, M. Peluffo, C. Lesca, O. Borda, v. Chab, J. Langlois, C. Testa, Polesello and LA Wells; the Arte Constructivo – Arquitectural group with S. Presta, F. Bangardini, Argentina Colli, J. Beloso. To these are added still other groups, such as “SUR”, “N”, Asociación de Arte NO Figurativo, Buenos Aires, “YES” (informal of La Plata). All of them tend to demonstrate the artist’s need to establish a relationship between his work and an environment rich in constantly evolving experiences. M. Pucciarelli, Argentina Greco, in the informal; others, such as F. Maza, R. Macció, E. Deira, J. de la Vega, M. Peluffo, NG Uriburu go through different experiences and find their place in a module focused on geometric and surrealist figuration. C. Alonso, master in the lucid representation of a realistic image of life, constitutes the synthesis of the Argentine tradition of drawing and engraving which also includes Castagnino, Soldi, Berni and others. Argentina Berni wins the grand prize for graphics at the Venice Biennale. The avant-garde sculpture counts on masters such as Curatella, Manes, L. Fontana, S. Vitullus (1899-1953). Di Fontana (see App. II, 1, p. 960) it can be said that the Argentine experience (the signature ofManifiesto Blanco, ceramics and sculptures) prepare him for the spatial experience. The new generations of sculptors present themselves with artists such as Badii, Gerstein, the aforementioned Kosice, Iommi, while others, such as Tomasello, FM De Teana and Argentina Penalba (winner of the highest prize at the Biennale di San Paolo in 1971), are already among the protagonists of the European avant-garde. Kinetic and kinetic-structural art is represented especially by H. De Marco, M. Boto, J. Le Parc (winner of the first prize at the 1968 Venice Biennale); a very interesting position in the field of conceptual art is that of D. Lamelas who lives in London (remember the volume Publication, 1970, and the film Reading, from 1971). Many artists born in Argentina live today in various European capitals and in the United States, proving the need for a continuous confrontation without neglecting to enclose in their works the social anxieties, anxieties, feelings of their land.
