The Neuberger Museum of Art of Purchase (N.Y.) College has organized a new exhibition, “Fifty Years of Latin American Art: Selections from the Neuberger Museum of Art,” which brings together for the first time a selection of nearly 60 works in various media from the museum’s permanent collection of Latin American art.
The show, being presented at Gallery 1285 Avenue of the Americas to May 30, includes work that mostly dates from the 1960s by some of the most renowned artists of the Twentieth Century, working inside and outside of their homelands, such as: Wifredo Lam, Rufino Tamayo, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Roberto Matta and José Clemente Orozco. Contemporary artists on view will include Eduardo Mac Entyre, Julio Antonio, Leda Catunda, José Luis Cuevas, Florencio Gelabert, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Arturo Duclos, Betsabeé Romero, Nicolás De Jesús, Marta María Pérez Bravo, Carlos Garaicoa, Jesús Rafael Soto, Arturo Mallmann, Maria Martinez-Cañas, Eugenia Vargas and Gerardo Suter.
There will be an opening reception March 5, 6 to 8 pm.
Rather than being organized by chronology or geography, the exhibit is organized into nine distinct sections, both monographic and thematic, including a two-part section on kinetic art and its descendants. Purchase College students registered in the course Introduction to the Structure and Function of Museums will provide regularly scheduled tours of the exhibition.
Latin American art of the Twentieth Century is characterized by the awakening of Modernist strategies, which eventually laid the groundwork for contemporary expression, according to Patrice Giasson, associate curator of art of the Americas. “During the past 50 years, many Latin American artists began to move away from traditional modes of art production, exploring forms such as kinetic, optical and conceptual art,” he said. “These investigations reflect an interest in pure color and form, as well as self- expression.”
He noted that many of the concerns that Latin American artists address today †identity, sexuality, political struggle, expression and repression †appear in the work of artists from all over the world. “In this sense, Latin America has become a center of artistic production that participates in a global view of living here and now,”
Gallery 1285 Avenue of the Americas Art is between 51st and 52nd Streets. For information, www.Neuberger.org or 914-251-6100.
