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Francisco Matto. Two Venuses, 1976. Oil on wood. 44 4/5 x 26 1/4 x 6 3/5 in. (114 x 67 x 17 cm.). Courtesy Cecilia de Torres, Ltd. Photo: Arturo Sánchez.
Barreiro puts it in his critical text.6 The aerial perspective adopted in the representation, for example, creates a vision of power and vigilance. It is that apparently neutral role that the artist deconstructs. Fahlström adopts the language of Pop Art, using comics in a critical way, as was common in Latin America but not in the US and Europe. It is interesting to note that in the 1960s Öyvind Fahlström lived in New York. Francisco Matto’s exhibition is retrospective in nature. It gathers 94 works between paintings on canvas and on wood, and wood sculptures. The Uruguayan artist was a disciple of Joaquín Torres García. From his time in the Torres García Workshop he inherited not only the concept of Constructive Universalism promoted by the master, but also the technique for the ellaboration of works of art. Like his teacher, he underscored the importance of the pre-Columbian roots of Modern
Educational Station. Photo: Leon Birbragher.
art, observing with great interest the production from that period in ceramics and textiles. His palette approaches Torres García’s, as do his works on wood. Their proximity is great in terms of compositional concepts. Taking this into account, it would have been interesting for the exhibition to provide information on Torres García, creating a module about his essential presence in the River Plate region, not only for his theoretical and artistic legacy but also for his effort in the diffusion of modern art in the region and the artistic motivation he was able to infuse in others through his teaching. The 6th Mercosur Biennial distinguished itself for its careful curatorship and museography, evident in the different sections. It was an important event for the public, an entirely positive achievement for the organizing Foundation.
NOTES 1. The piers at the port. 2. Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro is a Spanish art historian, general curator of the 6th Biennial, and works as Latin American art curator at the Blnton Museum of the University of Texas in Austin, Inés Katzestein is from Argentina, an art historian and curator at the Museo de Arte Latino-Americano in Buenos Aires. Lis Enrique Pérez Oramas is a Venezuelan art historian and a curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where he lives. Moacir dos Anjos is an independent Brazilian curator and researcher; he lives in Brazil. 3. Here there is a reference to the groups of Carnival dancers in the Samba Schools, the blocos wearing the same costume. 4. The word Ainda can be translated as either still and also. 5. Artist declaration, September 4th, 2007. 6. Catalog, 6th Mercosur Biennial, p. 28.
Lisbeth Rebollo Gonçalves Professor at the University of São Paulo and Vice-President of AICA.