T'oqapu, 1982 by César Parernosto

T’oqapu, 1982

by César Paternosto

Sarah Luna Van Arsdale Contemporary Latin American Art Final 2021

T’oqapu, 1982

Acrylic emulsion with marble powder on four attached canvases 167.6 x 167.6 x 5.3 cm --- 66 x 66 x 2 in

Introduction Known for his minimalist and geometric practice within painting, César Paternosto linked his geometric tendencies with traditions from his home continent of South America, a custom typically understood to be European in origin. Paternosto found a way to reclaim a past legacy through the revisiting and revitalization of arts and culture from pre-conquest Indo-American civilizations. For Paternosto, an Argentine born in La Plata, the choice to understand geometry in relation to Andean roots was by adoption rather than inheritance, as it had been for his predecessor, Joaquín Torres-García, and peer Miguel Angel Ríos, who was born in Catamarca, once part of the Inca empire. Despite this claim of “inheritance,” Paternosto shared the desire with both Torres-García and Ríos to form a continental identity for their contemporary practices. This resulted in the creation of South American continental identity within Abstraction and an understanding of Andean Art as a catalyst for abstract art that long preceded the modern west’s version emerging in the early 1900s.

Context for Creation César Paternosto did not limit his art to the holding of the brush, but delved into the academic realm to “legitimize” pre-conquest art. Through this study of Inca and earlier Andean art and architecture, Paternosto hoped to uncover the key to understanding pre-Hispanic geometry, as he wished to not merely readapt the geometry to contemporary models, but incorporate tradition within his art, inspiring an understanding of continuity with the past.1 Through these studies however, he came across a much bigger claim. Paternosto

1

Jacqueline Barnitz, “The Preconquest Past Reconsidered,” in Twentieth Century Art of Latin America (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 2001), pp. 303-313.

believed many of these archeological perspectives to be lacking in their understanding of Andean art and questions why they had been pigeonholed to decorative application; he speculates that archeologists and scholars had largely misconstrued the essence of these works of art by applying a western concept of fine versus decorative art. Paternosto wrote, “In contrast to Western Culture, pre-Columbian America never developed the media for ‘pure’ artistic activity,” as all of the objects produced related to ritualistic practices. “Purely aesthetic experience was foreign to its inhabitants,” meaning that the art produced could not be considered mere decoration as the meaning behind forms were as intrinsic to the object.

Paternosto explains that “our [western] hierarchical distinction between “art” and “craft” could not have existed” in pre-Columbian art, as they did not create art for art’s sake, furthering the argument that “our conceptual dichotomy of “pure art/applied art” has no [place] in the context of pre-Columbian art.”2 By eliminating the category of “ornamentation,”3 from the analysis of Andean art, we are able to see the shapes for what they are, symbols. This understanding leads to the revelation that every inch of what had been misconstrued as decoration is visual evidence “of a single metaphorical system.”4 To quote Ortega y Gasset, we should “expand our sagacity until we understand the meaning of that which for us has no meaning,”5 as both “decoration” and “ornament” are germane to Western culture.

Paternosto’s findings claimed the roots of abstract art were far older than the contemporary European trends that had been viewed as radical offshoots from tradition,

2

César Paternosto, The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1996). pp. 7.

3

The implication of ornamentation suggests a sort of superficial embellishment.

4

César Paternosto, The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art. pp. 7.

5

Maria Rostworowski de Díes Canseco, Pachacutec Inca Yu panwui (Lima, 1953) pp.39

asserting that the veritable foundation of South American abstract art “was first created ages ago in the hands and minds of the women weavers. In other words, the archaic textile grid is the degree zero of an abstract geometric or tectonic art that long preceded the modern Western version.”6 A radical departure from the avant-garde claims of Eurocentric novelty and genius, Paternosto challenges the notion that abstract art necetates inspiration from European artists, while also contesting the beliefs of many anthropologist’s devaluation of pre-Columbian art. The nature of the former claim could be considered ‘problematic’ in and of itself, as it would challenge the stature of the European white male visionary in the world of fine arts. Paternosto, intentionally or not, raises the question of how long a claim of this sort, with academic studies backing it, would take to gain acceptance, should the essence of it destabilize the hierarchy that Eurocentric tradition worked so fervently to preserve.

Visual Analysis and Critical Interpretation of Content With what could be deemed to be an over-reliance of our visual senses and the ‘literalness’ of perceived vision, geometric abstraction was born from the desire of a purer spiritual form, one that transcended the busyness of lived experience and sensory understanding, that can be realized once one’s aim is to not represent tangible objects.

Paternosto understood that geometry (as a pictorial creation) eliminated the need to represent physicality, allowing one to create forms born from an inner need. In an interview, Paternosto once said, “There is an analogy with the musical, which is not asked for an anecdote, contrary to what happened in the painting for centuries. I use a very basic, simple empirical geometry. I am inventing a small language for each work.”7 By reducing the art’s 6

MoMA: Museum of Modern Art NYC, MoMA: Museum of Modern Art NYC, April 26, 2021.

7

Paternosto, César. La hora de César Paternosto, el artista que desafió la mirada en el arte. October 8, 2019.

imagery, Paternosto’s works are a kind of visual architecture where form (as opposed to imagery) dictates the anecdote and the spectator's understanding of the work. To note: before incorporating this visual language into his own work, Paternosto studied many archeological sites and historical records that led to a kind of semiotic understanding of this art so as to not merely appropriate it for its visual attributes.8 Through an association between simple geometry and spiritual purity, Paternosto worked in a sort of tandem with the European Geometric Abstraction movement that was said to first appear in Kazimir Malevich’s work in 1915. Though, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, it is important to make the distinction of Paternosto’s work from the western canon of art, as he considered his predecessors to be Incan weavers. He came to his subject of geometric forms through a systematic study of proportional systems that occurred in Inca stone fortifications, pottery, and textiles, using interlocking triangles, rhomboids, and squares throughout. To reiterate, pre-Columbian art was not created for “pure artistic activity,” much of what was created by the Andean people was understood to be related to ritual, religious practices, and/or their social hierarchy.

T’oqapu Origin In The Stone and the Thread, Paternosto explained T’oqapu as chronicler Pedro de León described them, “shirts without sleeves or collars, of the finest wool, with paintings in different manners that they called tocapu, which in our language means garment of the kings.”9 Paternosto studied many of these textiles, referencing the All T’oqapu Tunic from the Late Horizon Inca Empire, 1450-1540 CE in his book. Made by the hands of cloistered

8

Jacqueline Barnitz, “The Preconquest Past Reconsidered,” in Twentieth-Century Art of Latin America pp. 303-313

9

César Paternosto, The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art. pp. 166.

women, called acllacuna, the All T’oqapu Tunic is one of the finest Inca textiles known to date.

Scholars have indicated that the individual geometric units may have been used to represent certain peoples, places, or things, leading them to believe these units to be a part of a sign system akin to the knotted khipu cords they used.10 11 In 1570, Tito Cusi Yupanqui noted the Spaniards “ability to ‘speak by means of a white cloth, and to name several of us by name without anyone having told anyone’ […] we find irresistible evidence that “cloth” (weaving) was in Inca society a most suitable means of transmitting information,” given his recognition of the relationship between cloth/paper and the transference of knowledge.

Edward Franquemont observed that the geometric units that make up this tunic can be broken down to “basic cells that generate forms by means of repetition, spatial reflections, rotations and so on,” yet the “asymmetry of the total composition of the aforementioned examples remains highly significant as an exception to that norm.”12 Paternosto believes that this lack of repetition in the overall composition offers “a striking parallel with the asymmetrical ordering that defines linguistic structure.”13 Leading one to speculate that, until the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822, Europeans were unable to identify alternative means of communication from the alphabetical system they themselves understood to be the main form of written communication. Giving rise to the speculation of our inability to decipher some cultural code and the misinterpretation of symbols.

10

Benson, Elizabeth. Handbook of the Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, 1963.

11

Toasts with the Inca: Andean Abstraction and Colonial Images on Quero Vessels

12

César Paternosto, The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art. pp. 171.

13

César Paternosto, The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art. pp. 170.

Visual Analysis The similarities between the garments and Paternosto’s work can be understood insofar as the geometric units that divide T’oqapu, 1982 into four quadrants as well as in the use of pattern systems.

Figure 1: All T'oqapu Tunic at Dumbarton Oaks Museum in Washington D.C. 14

A Basic Understanding of Pattern Systems The plane pattern analysis, developed in the 20th century, is an approach to classifying symmetrical patterns. According to the Crystallography approach to classifying these patterns, there are “four motions that generate symmetrical patterns to rigid motions on the Euclidean plane.”15 The motions are as follows: 1. translation (exact copies), 2. reflections (mirrored horizontally or vertically), 3. glide reflection (mirrored and slid forward), and 4. rotation (180 ° rotation around a point), with two additional combination of motions to 14

Dumbarton Oaks - All T'oqapu Tunic Image, 1950. http://museum.doaks.org/objects-1/info/23071.

Frame, Mary. “Elemental Pathways in Fiber Structures: Approaching Andean Symmetry Patterns through an Ancient Technology.” In Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings 2006: 10th Biennial; Textile Narratives and Conversations. University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 2006. pp. 406.

15

create the patterns displayed in row 5 & 6 of the figure 2 below. It is important to note that the Crystallography approach to classification was developed according to the precepts of western science and mathematics, meaning that this approach has little to do with the indigenous Andean pattern development and evolution.

Figure 2: Seven Classes of Band Patterns According to Crystallography Approach 16

Pattern Systems and Iconography in T’oqapu, 1982 Yet, given the symmetry displayed in Paternosto’s T’oqapu, 1982, this approach may be a good starting point for the analysis of these forms within the multi-media painting. In figure 3, the relationship between the mirrored rhombuses in each quadrant of T’oqapu becomes evident, while also highlighting the differences between the right and the left section of the piece. The repetition of rhombuses in each quadrant subliminally grounds the piece, allowing for a continuous dialogue between these geometric units as they co-exist with their unique attributes: overall shape, color, and use negative vs. positive shape.

16

Frame, Mary. pp. 407

Figure 3: Horizontal Reflection in T’oqapu, 1982

However, further research indicates a different understanding that relegates the rhombuses to the negative space shape. Figure 4 shows an ink drawing by Paternosto, published in The Stone and the Thread17, that depicts an “hourglass” design from a t’oqapu in an Inca tapestry tunic. Paternosto suggests the textile symbol he calls an hourglass, “which can be seen as two pyramids, one of them inverted, [… and] joined at their summits,” symbolizes the concept of hanan-hurin. “Hanan-hurin,” writes Paternosto, “is one of the basic dualistic concepts of the Andean cosmovision;” hanan is understood to be “masculine qualities, the right hand, and everything that comes from above, while hurin is the low, younger, feminine, left hand, and all that which is below.”18 Gasparini and Margolies wrote that this concept of high and low, hanan-hurin, “has always existed from the moment people cultivating the high-altitude lands realized that they could not survive without certain controls and contacts with those of the lowlands, and vice versa.”19 Paternosto notes that “to

17 18

19

César Paternosto, The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art. pp. 171.

César Paternosto, The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art. pp. 64.

Graziano Gasparini and Luise Margolies, Inca Architecture, trans. Patricia Lyon (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana Univ. Press, 1984). pp.58.

avoid a simplistic interpretation of the “low” as “inferior,” it should be noted that the Qoricancha, the central temple of the Inca religion, was situated in hurin Cuzco.” In figure 5, the additive lines highlight show six definitive hourglasses (see figure 9 for two potential additional hourglasses) depicted in T’oqapu, 1982.

Figure 4: Hourglasses in The Stone and The Thread, 1989

Figure 5: Hourglasses in T’oqapu, 1982

Significance of Four The division of four quadrants could be understood to echo the significance of four in the following ways: the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air, given the Inca’s deference to nature; the Chakana, the Inca cross, a square superimposed on the cross top that is understood to show the three levels of existence: the upper levels, Hana Pacha which is inhabited by the gods, the middle world, Kay Pacha, where we live, and the underworld, Ukhu or Urin Pacha, where the spirits of the deceased reside alongside their overlords; the four Suyo (regions) of the Inca empire, the empire was known as Tawantinsuyu, roughly translated to “the four corners of the world”20 or “the four regions united among themselves;” 20

César Paternosto, The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art. pp. 10.

and/or symbolizing Cusco, the capital of the Inca empire, that was divided into halves, the hanan and the hurin, that was then further divided by two, with each quarter of Cusco representing one of the four Suyo.

Epilogue

Cesar Paternosto was a visionary who created masterpieces of geometric abstraction, and at the same time he is a wildly underrecognized genius in art history and its academic implications – in my opinion. Inspired by his immersion in Andean art and architecture, Paternosto not only became an authority in the iconography of pre-Columbian art, but he was able to develop his own contemporary geometric language expressed through his art. He understood the genre, and the source of its origins, before it was defined , and it’s time for him to be significantly recognized for all his contributions to modern interpretations of geometric abstractions.

Other Visual Observations and Analysis Not Derived from Paternosto’s Studies A subtle dichotomy between empty and filled space emerges as the work is examined. Paternosto’s awareness of the asynchronous spacing is attributed to his visit of Cuzco and other Inca sites in 1977, where he found “space [to be] as important as form”21 in 21

Lippard, Lucy R. Overlay Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory. New York, N.Y, NY: New York: Pantheon Books, 1983. pp. 140.

the asymmetrical knobs found on fortifications in Ollantaytambo.22 The space, in reference to their deference to nature, may have alluded the absence of form in relation to the sky, encasing us in an all-encompassing lack of solid form.23 Where two positive rhombus space shapes are used in all quadrants, their negative space shape creates a rhombus in the center of them all (figure 6) and an hourglass in the top half of the piece (figure 7) that appears to be most similar to the ink drawing Paternosto had drawn in figure 4.

Figure 6: Empty Space in T’oqapu, 1982

Figure 7: Hourglass Negative Space Shape in T’oqapu, 1982

In figure 8, however, another relationship appears as both the bottom left and right quadrant’s positive space shape occupy the bottom of the board. A sense of density and weight is understood to be held in the bottom portion of the piece, joining them in a kind of horizon line, perhaps acting as another icon of the natural world, the solidness of the earth and the lower lands (what could be considered the base; a base of a mountain) associated with hurin.

22

Ferdinan, Valentin Rafael. 1998. The inflexible foreignness of the world: On the difference between art and philosophy. Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, pp. 242 – 260.

23

Ferdinan, Valentin Rafael. pp.245 – 247.

Figure 8: Hourglasses in T’oqapu, 1982

Figure 9: Hourglasses in T’oqapu, 1982

Pattern Systems in Individual Quadrants

Figure 3.1, 3.2: Top Left Quadrant of T’oqapu, 1982 Figures 3.1 and 3.2, show a detail view of the top left quadrant of T’oqapu, 1982. In figure 3.1, the larger rhombus with its top tip cut off can be seen to be mirrored over the central axis of the canvas. In figure 3.2, the larger rhombus referenced in figure 3,1 can be understood to be made up of the two of the same shapes that have been mirrored along the vertical edge, also noting that the bottom triangle, situated between the two rhombuses, is mirrored along the vertical edge.

Figure 4.1, 4.2: Top Bottom Quadrant of T’oqapu, 1982 The bottom left quadrant of T’oqapu, 1982 (figure 4.1 and 4.2) is most similar in shape to the top left quadrant, using transition and vertical reflection motions. In figure 4.1, the larger rhombus with its tip cut off is mirrored over the central axis, similar to the top left quadrant. In figure 4.2, one can see the triangles mirrored on the bottom edge, creating a shape that is then mirrored over the central axis.

Figure 5.1, Figure 5.2, Figure 5.3 Bottom Right Quadrant of T’oqapu, 1982

The bottom right quadrant of T’oqapu, 1982 (figure 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3) uses transition and vertical reflection motions. In figure 5.1, the rhombus is mirrored vertically over the central axis. In figure 5.2, the triangle is mirrored horizontally over the central axis. In figure 5.3, similar to figure 4.2, the triangles mirrored on the bottom edge, creating a shape that is then mirrored over the central axis.

Figure 6.1, Figure 6.2, Figure 6.3 Top Right Quadrant of T’oqapu, 1982

The top right quadrant of T’oqapu, 1982 (figure 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3) uses transition and vertical reflection motions. In figure 6.1, similar to figure 5.1, the rhombus is mirrored vertically over the central axis. In figure 6.2, one can see that the hexagon could be considered to be made by mirrored either horizontally or vertically over the central axis. In figure 6.3, the triangle is triangle is mirrored horizontally over the central axis.

Telephone conversation between Picasso and Journalist: 24

“What do you think about negro art, M. Picasso?” “…. Never heard of it.”

24

André Breton et al., Art of This Century: Objects, Drawings, Photographs, Paintings, Sculpture, Collages, 1910 to 1942(New York, New York: Art of This Century, 1942). pp. 40.

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Cummins, Thomas B.F. Toasts with the Inca: Andean Abstraction and Colonial Images on Quero Vessels. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan, 2002.

Dumbarton Oaks - All T'oqapu Tunic Image, 1950. http://museum.doaks.org/objects-1/info/23071.

Fernandini, Francesca, and Mario Ruales. "From the Domestic to the Formal: A View of Daily and Ceremonial Practices from Cerro De Oro during the Early Middle Horizon." In Rituals of the Past: Prehispanic and Colonial Case Studies in Andean Archaeology, edited by ROSENFELD SILVANA A. and BAUTISTA STEFANIE L., 169-92. Boulder, Colorado: University Press of Colorado, 2017.

Accessed April 22, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1mtz7j7.12.

Ferdinan, Valentin Rafael. 1998. The inflexible foreignness of the world: On the difference between art and philosophy. Ph.D. diss., Stanford University. pp. 242 – 260. https://login.libproxy.newschool.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libproxy.newschool.edu/dis sertations-theses/inflexible-foreignness-world-on-differend-between/docview/304453902/se-2?accou ntid=12261. Accessed April 12, 2021.

Frame, Mary. “Elemental Pathways in Fiber Structures: Approaching Andean Symmetry Patterns through an Ancient Technology.” In Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings 2006: 10th Biennial; Textile Narratives and Conversations. University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 2006. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/348/.

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Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana Univ. Press, 1984.

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Paternosto, César 2006 No Borders: The Ancient American Roots of Abstraction. In Contemporary Art and Anthropology, Arnd Schneider and Christopher Wright, eds., pp. 157-168. English ed. Berg, Oxford; New York. p. 166, fig. 11.7. Vega-Centeno, Rafael, and Sara-Lafosse. "Architecture and Ritual Practices at Huaca A of Pampa De Las Llamas–Moxeke." In Rituals of the Past: Prehispanic and Colonial Case Studies in Andean Archaeology, edited by ROSENFELD SILVANA A. and BAUTISTA STEFANIE L., 103-22. Boulder, Colorado: University Press of Colorado, 2017. Accessed April 20, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1mtz7j7.9.

Paternosto, César. La hora de César Paternosto, el artista que desafió la mirada en el arte. Infobae, October 8, 2019. https://www.infobae.com/cultura/2019/10/08/la-hora-de-cesar-paternosto-el-artista-que-desafio-la-mi rada-en-el-arte/.

Rostworowski de Díes Canseco, Maria. Pachacutec Inca Yu Panwui . Lima, Peru, 1939.

Turner, Madeline Murphy, and César Paternosto. Ex-Centricity: A Conversation with César Paternosto. Other. MoMA: Museum of Modern Art NYC, April 26, 2021. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/544.

It is this through this study of Andean art and architecture that Paternosto began integrating traditional motifs into his own works of art, believing that the studying of them would reveal the meaning behind these forms.