Fundacion Proa Presents Exhibition of Artistic Production in the 1960s

BUENOS AIRES.- Attraction. Scene. Energy. Internationalism. Destination. In the 1960s, artistic production looked to New York. As center of the development of visual arts during the second half of the 20th century, this American city attracted many artists whose interests were no longer in Europe – birthplace of the historic avant-gardes – but in the Big Apple, epicenter of experimentation and change, where they had gone to live.

Until September 30, Fundación Proa present Imán: Nueva York, a historic exhibition curated by Rodrigo Alonso. Pieces, projects, documents, books and photographs reconstruct a period of exchanges, crucial for the visual consciousness of the time, a moment when many Argentinean artists traveled to New York and Buenos Aires entertained international curators and artists.

Amongst the numerous artists on display are Marcelo Bonevardi, Eduardo Costa, Jaime Davidovich, Leandro Katz, David Lamelas, Marta Minujín, César Paternosto, Alejandro Puente and Liliana Porter.

This exhibition examines the 60s and presents the transformation of local art from lyrical to geometric abstraction, and then to conceptual art, reconsidering the artists’ dialog with the hegemonic centers.

Guggenheim Fellowships, the Di Tella Institute, the Museum of Modern Art and the National Museum of Fine Arts were the institutions that enabled this interchange.

The English edition of Catalog Imán: Nueva York will be presented at this year’s edition of Pinta. New York – The Modern & Contemporary Latin American Art Show (November 11-14) at a roundtable debate with the artists. Overseen by curator Rodrigo Alonso, this 300 pages publication illustrates this period through an extensive body of reproductions of works, photographs and portraits. This book establishes a dialog between the historical context and contemporary analysis, constituting a document of reflection on 1960′s art scene.