Estate Teresa BurgaA Tale of Two Worlds: A Dialogue between the MMK Collection and the History of Experimental Latin American Art, 1940s–1980s23.11.2017 - 02.04.2018
Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt (MMK)

Based on the MMK’s vibrant collection, which largely focuses on European and North American art from the 1960s and 1970s, the chronological period covered by our exhibition begins somewhat earlier – towards 1944, the year of the first exhibitions of the Concrete Art movement in Argentina – and stretches to the end of the Latin American dictatorships in the late 1980s. It aims to explore the exact moment of the shift from modern to contemporary art by the most experimental artists in Latin America, the United States, and Europe. To do this it makes use of different dynamics: we are interested both in situations of intellectual kinship and empathy among artists
of different latitudes, and in situations of counterpoint, challenge, or tension between different histories. The exhibition will mark the first time a European collection with key works from the 1960s and 1970s has opened itself up to being revisited by curators of Latin American art.

The exhibition is structured as a stream of interwoven conversations: a narrative that stages specific dialogues between emblematic works of modern and contemporary art by leading Latin American artists and key works from the MMK Collection. Some of these dialogues include:

• A Contrast between Two Worlds: The Postwar Years in Europe and Latin America. Concrete Artists Gyula Kosice (Argentina), Alfredo Hlito (Argentina), Roth Rothfuss (Uruguay), Carmelo Arden Quin (Uruguay); Geraldo de Barros (Brazil); and On Kawara (Japan), Albert Georg Riethausen (Germany), Francis Bacon (Ireland), Luis Felipe Noé (Argentina).

• A Bridge between Two Worlds: Lucio Fontana (Argentina/Italy) opens up
the field of debate between Latin America and Europe

• Tearing both Worlds Apart: Strategies of Destruction in Europe and Latin America. Arman (France), Arte Destructivo (Argentina), El Techo de la Ballena (Venezuela), John Chamberlain (US), Kenneth Kemble (Argentina), Manolo Millares (Spain), Marta Minujín (Argentina).

• In Search of a Space Beyond: The Limit of the Autonomous Artwork.
Willys de Castro (Brazil), Lucio Fontana (Argentina/Italy), Hélio Oiticica (Brazil), Lygia Clark (Brazil), Lygia Pape (Brazil), David Lamelas (Argentina), Kenneth Noland (US), Blinky Palermo (Germany) and Fred Sandback (US).

• The Social Body: Exploring the Limits of Society in the Midst of Social Turmoil. Barry Le Va (US), Anna Maria Maiolino (Brazil), Lygia Pape (Brazil), Lotty Rosenfeld (Chile), Alberto Heredia (Argentina), Luis Pazos (Argentina), Artur Barrio (Brazil), Luis Camnitzer (Uruguay), Walter De Maria (US) and Cy Twombly (US).

• Puncturing the Surface: From the Monochrome to the Real. Yves Klein (France), Flávio de Carvalho (Brazil), Alberto Greco (Argentina), Piero Manzoni (Italy), Ben Vautier (France)

• The Body in Action: Participation and the Exploration of Subjectivity.
Lygia Clark (Brazil), Hélio Oiticica (Brazil), Charlotte Posenenske (Germany), Franz Erhard Walther (Germany), Manuel Casanueva and the Valparaíso School (Chile), Oscar Bony (Argentina) and Pablo Suárez (Argentina), Leopoldo Maler (Argentina).

• Mapping the Contemporary City. Adolfo Bernal (Colombia), León Ferrari (Argentina), Thomas Bayrle (Germany), Cildo Meireles (BR), Edward Ruscha (US)

• The Domestic Space as a Mirror of Society. Claes Oldenburg (US),
Beatriz González (Colombia)

• When Pop Goes Critical. Ricardo Carreira (Argentina), Thomas Bayrle (Germany), León Ferrari (Argentina), Antonio Caro (Colombia), James Rosenquist (US), Andy Warhol (US), Jasper Johns (US)

• The Experience of Time. On Kawara (Japan), Edgardo Antonio Vigo (Argentina)

• Cosmological Embroidery. Artur Bispo do Rosário (Brazil), Alighiero Boetti (Italy)

• Fluid Architectures: Images of the Mind from the Amazon River to 52nd and Fifth. Juan Downey (Chile), Alejandro Puente (Argentina), Aligherio Boetti (Italy), Lothar Baumgarten (Germany).

• Alchemy & Colonization. On Joseph Beuys (Germany), Walter De Maria (US), Mathias Goeritz (Mexico), Mira Schendel (Brazil), Liliana Maresca (Argentina), Víctor Grippo (Argentina).

• The Shamans of Matter. Nicolas Garcia Uriburu (Argentina), Ana Mendieta (Cuba), Bruce Nauman (US), Víctor Grippo (Argentina), Joseph Beuys (Germany).

• Poetic Alphabets. Antonio Caro (Colombia), Augusto de Campos (Brazil), Lenora de Barros (Brazil), Margarita Paksa (Argentina), Teresa Burga (Perú), Ulises Carrión (Mexico), Gego (Venezuela), Franz Mon (Germany), Mira Schendel (Brazil), León Ferrari (Argentina), Peter Roehr (Germany).

• Scrutinizing the Brushstroke, When Expressionism Goes Conceptual. Kenneth Kemble (Argentina), León Ferrari (Argentina), Roy Lichtenstein (USA), Gerhard Richter (Germany), Andy Warhol (USA).

A Tale of Two Worlds is also intended to prompt a debate about the artists’ reactions to their different sociopolitical contexts. Latin America’s turbulent political past – decades of economic crises, colonialism, dictatorships, abuse of power, racial discrimination, and censorship – has provided a platform for its great artists to react forcefully and articulate their worldviews. This troubled history and the long artistic tradition of learning to live with it has resulted in a wise and mature political art that does not mistake politically charged gestures or statements for genuine art. We hope these practices will provide a powerful reflection on the current sense of turmoil and anxiety in the Northern Hemisphere.

THE PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
The exhibition will include 300 artworks from public and private collections and the archives of 90 artists from Europe, the United States, and Latin America. To date, these include:

Adolfo Bernal
Albert Georg Riethausen
Alberto Greco
Alberto Heredia
Alejandro Puente
Alfredo Hlito
Alighiero Boetti
Ana Mendieta
Andy Warhol
Anna Maria Maiolino
Antonio Caro
Antonio Vigo
Arman
Arte Destructivo
Arthur Bispo de Rosario
Artur Barrio
Augusto de Campos
Barry Le va
Beatriz Gonzalez
Ben Vautier
Blinky Palermo
Bruce Nauman
Carmelo Arden Quin
Charlotte Posenenske
Cildo Meireles
Claes Oldenburg
Cy Twombly
David Lamelas
Diyi Laañ
Edward Ruscha
El techo de la ballena
Escuela de Valparaíso
Flavio de Carvalho
Francis Bacon
Franz Erhard Walther
Franz Mon
Fred Sandback
Gego
Geraldo de Barros
Gerhard Richter
Gerry Schum
Gregorio Vardánega
Gyula Kosice
Heinz Kreutz
Hélio Oiticia
Hermann Goepffert
James Rosenquist
Jasper Johns
John Chamberlain
Joseph Beuys
Juan del Prete
Juan Downey
Juan Melé
Karl Otto Götz
Kenneth Kemble
Kenneth Noland
Lenora de Barros
León Ferrari
Leopoldo Maler
Lidy Prati
Liliana Maresca
Liliana Porter
Lothar Baumgarten
Lotty Rosenfeld
Lucio Fontana
Luis Camnitzer
Luis Felipe Noé
Luis Pazos
Lygia Clark
Lygia Pape
Manuel Millares
Marcel Broodthaers
Marcel Duchamp
Margarita Paksa
Marta Minujin
Martin Blaszko
Mathias Goeritz
Mira Schendel
Nicolás García Uriburu
On Kawara
Oscar Bony
Otto Greis
Pablo Suárez
Paul Almasy
Peter Roehr
Piero Manzoni
Raul Lozza
Rhod Rothfuss
Ricardo Carreira
Roberto Jacoby
Roy Lichtenstein
Rubén Santantonin
Sonia Andrade
Teresa Burga
Thomas Bayrle
Tomás Maldonado
Ulises Carrión
Victor Grippo
Walter De Maria
Willys De Castro
Yente
Yves Klein

THE CATALOGUE
The exhibition will be accompanied by an ambitious publication featuring essays by 20 art historians, writers and curators from Latin America and Europe:

Alejandra Aguado (Argentina), Gonzalo Aguilar (Argentina), Luca Massimo Barbero (Italy), Marcos Cabobianco (Argentina), Luis Camnitzer (Uruguay), Mauricio Corbalán (Argentina), Martin Engler (Germany), María Amalia García (Argentina), Santiago García Navarro (Argentina – Brazil), Klaus Göerner (Germany), Mario Kramer (Germany), Harper Montgomery (US), Victoria Noorthoorn (Argentina), Bernardo Ortíz (Colombia), Marcelo E. Pacheco (Argentina), Florencia Qualina (Argentina), Ana María Reyes (US), Silviano Santiago (Brazil), Dirk Snauwaert (Belgium), Robert Storr (US), Katrin Thomschke (Germany), Javier Villa (Argentina). Note: Authors are still in the process of being confirmed.

FUNDING
A Tale of Two Worlds will be presented in both Germany and Argentina, thanks to the generous support of the Kulturstiftung des Bundes in Germany.