Making Art Concrete: Works from Argentina and Brazil in the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros

Abstract

"This volume is published on the occasion of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, an initiative of the Getty with arts institutions across Southern California, and accompanies the exhibition Making Art Concrete: Works from Argentina and Brazil in the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, held at the J. Paul Getty Museum from 16 September 2017 through 11 February 2018. The exhibition was co-organized by the Getty Conservation Institute and the Getty Research Institute, and has been made possible by the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros."--ECIP galley. "In the years after World War II, artists in Argentina and Brazil experimented with geometric abstraction and engaged in lively debates about the role of the artwork in society. Some of these artists used novel synthetic materials, creating objects that offered an alternative to established traditions in painting. They proposed that these objects become part of everyday, concrete reality--and they explored the materials and theoretical limits of that proposition. Combining art historical and scientific analysis, experts from the Getty Conservation Institute and Getty Research Institute have collaborated with the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, a world-renowned collection of Latin American art, to research the formal strategies and material decisions of these artists. Making Art Concrete presents artworks by Lygia Clark, Willys de Castro, Judith Lau and, Raúl Lozza, Tomás Maldonado, Hélio Oiticica, and Rhod Rothfuss, among others. New spectacular photography of the works captures multiple views. The photographs, along with information about the now-invisible processes that determine the appearance of these works, are key to interpreting the artists' technical choices as well as the objects themselves. Making Art Concrete sheds further light on the social, political, and cultural underpinnings of the artists' propositions, making a compelling addition to the field of postwar Latin American art"--Back cover. Foreword / James Cuno -- The material of form: how concrete artists responded to the second industrial revolution in Latin America / Aleca Le Blanc -- Making concrete art / Pia Gottschaller -- Plates -- Some remarks on documentation and analysis techniques / Douglas MacLennan and Pia Gottschaller.