Painting in a State of Exception : New Figuration in Argentina, 1960-1965

"Brings long overdue recognition and reevaluation to Nueva Figuración. 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 Although it is one of Latin America’s most significant postwar art movements, Nueva Figuración 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 Noé, Rómulo Macció, 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 Perón 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. 'Brings long overdue recognition and reevaluation to Nueva Figuración. 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 Although it is one of Latin America's most significant postwar art movements, Nueva Figuración 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 Noé, Rómulo Macció, 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 Perón 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. Patrick Frank is the author of several books, including Los Artistas del Pueblo: Prints and Workers'Culture in Buenos Aires, 1917-1935, and Posada's Broadsheets: Mexican Popular Imagery, 1890-1910. Résumé en 4ème de couverture: "Althought it is one of Latin American's most significant postwar art movements, Nueva Figuración 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 Noé, Rómulo Macció, and Ernesto Deira - to demonstrate the importance of their work in the transnational development of modern art. The artist 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 Perón years. Building on postwar expressinisme 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 painting with discussions of their social, political, and artistic contexts. He reveals the works' connections to litterature, popular culture, and film, broadening our understanding of modern art in the early 1960s." "Although it is one of Latin America's most significant postwar art movements, Nueva Figuración 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 Noé, Rómulo Macció, 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 Perón 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"--Publisher's website The four artists who made up the New Figuration movement—Luis Felipe Noé, Jorge de la Vega, Rómulo Macció, and Ernesto Deira—have figured in every relevant textbook and international group show on Latin American modern art, but until now there has been no thorough study of them in English or Spanish. In __Painting in a State of Exception__, Patrick Frank’s detailed cultural and scholarly analysis of the group's creations unfolds against the backdrop of Argentina at that time, as the artists responded directly and memorably to a chaotic period characterized by civil strife, government instability, and economic shocks, including currency fluctuations. Central to Frank’s study is how the artists’ works relate to political events, literature, popular culture, and films of the early to mid-sixties. With the goal of broadening our view of what modern art comprised in the early 1960s, Frank includes formal analyses of many works, along with discussion of the stylistic and cultural forces that shaped them. The four artists who made up the New Figuration movement - Luis Felipe Noé, Jorge de la Vega, Rómulo Macció, and Ernesto Deira - have figured in every relevant textbook and international group show on Latin American modern art, but until now there has been no thorough study of them in English or Spanish. In 'Painting in a State of Exception', Patrick Frank's detailed cultural and scholarly analysis of the group's creations unfolds against the backdrop of Argentina at that time, as the artists responded directly and memorably to a chaotic period characterized by civil strife, government instability, and economic shocks, including currency fluctuations Cover 1 PAINTING IN A STATE OF EXCEPTION 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 CONTENTS 6 List of Illustrations 8 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: The State of Exception 14 1. Getting to Expressionism, 1959–1961 20 2. First Group Show and Journey to France, 1961–1962 44 3. At the Forefront of Innovation, 1962–1963 68 4. International Recognition, 1964 107 5. A Further Brush with Fame in 1965 160 Conclusion: The Fate of Nueva Figuración 188 Notes 216 Bibliography 230 Picture Credits 236 Index 238 This book is a careful study of the four artists at the heart of the Nueva Figueracion postwar art movement, combining analyses of the artists' paintings with discussions of the social, political and artistic contexts in which they were created