Latin American Art Of The 20th Century

Essays on 20th Century Latin American Art provides a broad synthesis of the subject through short chapters illustrated with reproductions of iconic works by artists who have made significant contributions to art and society. Designed as a teaching tool for non-art historians, the book's purpose is to introduce these important artists within a new scholarly context and recognize their accomplishments with those of others beyond the Americas and the Caribbean. The publication provides an in-depth analysis of topics such as political issues in Latin American art and art and popular culture, introducing views on artists and art-related issues that have rarely been addressed. Organized both regionally and thematically, it takes a unique approach to the exploration of art in the Americas, beginning with discussions of Modernism and Abstraction, followed by a chapter on art and politics from the 1960s to the 1980s. The author covers Spanish-speaking Central America and the Caribbean, regions not usually addressed in Latin American art history surveys. The chapter on Carnival as an expression of popular culture is a particularly valuable addition. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Latin American history, culture, art, international relations, gender studies, and sociology, as well as Caribbean studies.

Account of the rise of modernism in the art of Latin America, published to accompany the exhibition Latin American Artists of the Twentieth Century at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

This pathfinding book, by contrast, seeks not to "invent" Latin American art but to look at it from the points of view of its own artists and critics.".

A survey of Latin American art discusses major subjects and themes and the interrelationship of politics, society, and art; looks at Latin American folk art; and examines the work of notable artists.

During the mid-twentieth century, Latin American artists working in several different cities radically altered the nature of modern art. Reimagining the relationship of art to its public, these artists granted the spectator an unprecedented role in the realization of the artwork. The first book to explore this phenomenon on an international scale, Abstraction in Reverse traces the movement as it evolved across South America and parts of Europe. Alexander Alberro demonstrates that artists such as Tomás Maldonado, Jesús Soto, Julio Le Parc, and Lygia Clark, in breaking with the core tenets of the form of abstract art known as Concrete art, redefined the role of both the artist and the spectator. Instead of manufacturing autonomous art, these artists produced artworks that required the presence of the spectator to be complete. Alberro also shows the various ways these artists strategically demoted regionalism in favor of a new modernist voice that transcended the traditions of the nation-state and contributed to a nascent globalization of the art world.

This pathfinding book, by contrast, seeks not to "invent" Latin American art but to look at it from the points of view of its own artists and critics.".