Buenos Aires – « Mapa de las artes »

Buenos Aires – « Mapa de las artes »

The arts seem to be more palpable in Buenos Aires than in many other cities. Perhaps we are more conscious of it as visitors, but arts is everywhere! In the museums, cultural centres (e.g. Recoleta and Borges in Galerias Pacifico ) and the galleries of course, of which there are plenty, but also all along the streets and squares, ranging from what the artisans are selling along Avenida del Liberator in Recoleta or in San Telmo over the week-end, to the sculptures of all styles that adorn private and public spaces and buildings, to the more artsy barrio of Palermo Viejo, home of the more culturally-inclined “creative communities” of Buenos Aires. The prevalence of arts in BA is well illustrated by this little publication put out by the city every other month called “Mapa de las artes” which tells you what new is happening on the art scene and where, by barrio – plentiful!

Argentine painting of the early 20th century, as shown at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (http://www.mnba.org.ar/) was a discovery for us – such concentration in time and place of converging influences from European sources mixed with local, Latino American colors. I particularly like the series "Los Gauchos" de Cesáreo Bernaldo de Quiros. We are fortunate too to be here while the temporary exhibition Latitudes, maestros latinoamericanos en la colección FEMSA, (Fomento Económico Mexicano S.A.) is in town; it offers also an extraordinary vista of the better known artists that have defined the Latino American painting of the 20th century, from Antonio Berni, Diego Rivera and Frida Khalo to Fernando Botero, to name a few with whom I am more familiar (Note : see the exposition guide we brought back).

We got another good look at last century’s Latin American painting when visiting MALBA – the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires – the most compelling piece of modern architecture we were given to see in BA, the creation of businessman and major art collector Eduardo Constantini. Built by young Argentine architects, its construction does not go back I’d say more than 10 years ago; lots of light allowed to come in (great shop by the way) (http://www.malba.org.ar/web/en/mission/index.php).

Its permanent collection – the Coleccion Constantini – offers a very extensive selection from all periods of the century, and where again the European avant-garde influence is felt very strongly; most of the art pioneers of that day after all spent some time in European capitals before coming back home to confront the more traditional style that prevailed at the time. I enjoyed more the works of the earlier part of the century; I am not much of a fan of the “Concrete, Constructivist and Abstract Movements” that followed, in line with what was happening everywhere else, and even less of the neo-figurative, conceptual, pop, minimal trends that came in the 60’s and 70’s – I don’t go much for extremes, like piles of waste and refuse materials that pass for “work of art”...

We liked also the museum’s section on recent acquisitions – eclectic but all interesting pieces, especially that sculpture depicting a man, lying down on some contraption, seemingly being tortured: pure lines and an obvious reference to a not-too-distant past... A look en passant at its temporary exhibition relating the work of the Asociacion Amigos del Arte 1924-42, a singular grouping from the high society and moneyed class of BA that was particularly supportive of Argentine artists and their works, primarily by providing venues free of charge for exhibitions, but also by being the primary buyers of works. The group did not seem to be partial in selecting the artists they support, but it seems that the loss of some cohesion explains in good part that the group dissolved when it did; perhaps it was simply a reflection of the times, when more cultural and political divergences emerged – it simply had served its purpose.
So many others places we would have liked to spend time at – Centro Cultural Recoleta, Museo Xul Solar, Nacional de Arte Decorativo in Recoleta; Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernandez Blanco in Retiro, and the “Quinquela Martin” in La Boca, but no time, alas...maybe next time?