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Myth and Materiality:Latin American Art from the Permanent Collection, 1930-1990

City: 
Santa Barbara, CA

November 2, 2012—Showcasing the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s (SBMA) significant collection of 20th-century Latin American art, Myth and Materiality: Latin American Art from the Permanent Collection, 1930-1990 examines the multifaceted art produced in Latin America during this dynamic period. The exhibition features a 48 piece diverse selection of paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and photography from the permanent collection and several private collections that explore the mythic and material worlds. Myth and materiality are concepts prevalent throughout the presentation, providing platforms to consider works on both individual and universal levels―from the everyday world to the cosmic realm.

Myths have long served as powerful forces in Latin American art, giving visual form to political and religious ideologies, as well as deeply personal narratives. Understood in multiple ways, myths can be viewed as traditional stories that provide an explanation for something, such as the early history of a society, a religious belief or ritual, or a natural phenomenon. Conversely, they may also propagate widespread, but untrue, stories or beliefs. Not only do myths serve as potent subject matter, they also have the ability to raise certain artists to heroic status―leaving enduring, influential legacies.

As opposed to intangible myths, materiality refers to that which constitutes the matter or material of something, or its material existence. It addresses not only the physical composition of the works considered, but also the past and present realities in which they exist. Works presented in the exhibition are united by the experimental and innovative use of materials as seen in David Alfaro Siqueiros’s application of pyroxilin automotive lacquer, Alfredo Ramos Martínez’s paintings on newsprint, Carlos Cruz-Diez’s optical paintings striped with plastic slats, and Mathias Goeritz’s golden nails.

Myth and Materiality suggests that the monolithic category of “Latin American art” may also be viewed as a myth rooted in a material presence. In this exhibition, the term serves as a point of entry into a vast geographic region, spanning 42 countries with distinct histories, languages, and artistic production. Latin American artists engaging modernist styles such as cubism, constructivism, surrealism, and geometric abstraction were vital participants in an international dialogue and practice that often flowed between national and continental boundaries. In other cases, artists developed distinctive, local movements that gradually gained international esteem.

Artists
The artists in Myth and Materiality represent a group ranging from highly established figures to arguably less
recognized individuals. Many are rooted in modernist styles embraced during the early part of the 20th
century. These artists worked (and, in some cases, continue to work) in and out of Latin America, often exchanging ideas with their contemporaries throughout Europe and the Americas. The exhibition also strives to highlight underexposed works and variations within a single artist’s oeuvre.

Works combining elements of myth and materiality include Composition (1932) by pioneering abstract artist Joaquín Torres-García (Uruguayan, 1879-1949), known for his theory of Constructive Universalism, which is based on the idea that everyday symbols could be understood by all. His paintings feature a grid-like composition filled with pictographs drawn from ancient and modern cultures such as the five-pointed star, fish, Grecian temple, anchor, and clock seen in the painting in the exhibition. The grid serves as a firm structure supporting, what the artist deemed, “innumerable cosmic relationships.”

Concerned with issues related to the purely material are artists such as Gyula Kosice (Argentinian, b. 1924), founding member of the Madí group and author of its manifesto penned in 1946. Kosice espoused an abstract art free from expression, representational forms, and discrete meaning that is seen in his acrylic and light sculptures from the 1960s, two of which are highlights of the exhibition.

Artists represented include Luis Cruz Azaceta, Feliciano Béjar, Fernando Botero, Lola Alvarez Bravo, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Federico Cantú, Pedro Coronel, Rafael Coronel, Raúl Corrales, Carlos Cruz-Diez, José Luis Cuevas, Leonor Fini, Lucio Fontana, Flor Garduño, Gunther Gerzso, Mathias Goeritz, Graciela Iturbide, Ignacio Iturria, Gyula Kosice, Wifredo Lam, Joy Laville, Roberto Matta, Carlos Mérida, Guillermo Meza, Edgar Negret, Rodolfo Nieto, José Clemente Orozco, Carlos Orozco Romero, Luis González Palma, Rogelio Polesello, Alfredo Ramos Martínez, Diego Rivera, José Salazar, Sebastião Salgado, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Juan Soriano, Jesús Rafael Soto, Fernando de Szyszlo, Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Toledo, Joaquín Torres-García, Cordelia Urueta, and Francisco Zúñiga.

Institutional Impact
From its opening in 1941, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art has historically served as a major outpost for modern and contemporary Latin American art in Southern California, hosting groundbreaking exhibitions such as Modern Mexican Painters (1942) and Latin America: New Departures (1962), as well as pivotal solo shows for artists Rufino Tamayo (1954, 1961, 1982, 2007), Alfredo Ramos Martínez (1959), Diego Rivera (1960), José Luis Cuevas (1961, 1976, 1987), Manuel Alvarez Bravo (1972, 1982, 1991), Francisco Zúñiga (1978), and Gunther Gerzso (2003).

Myth and Materiality highlights the history of the Museum’s collection of Latin American art, which was launched in the late 1950s with major donations from Dr. and Mrs. MacKinley Helm. Dr. Helm was a preeminent scholar of Mexican modernism, an area that shaped the Museum’s early collection of Latin American art. Major acquisitions during the 1990s reflect an institutional desire to expand the collection beyond the borders of Mexico. This was achieved by significant donations of over 50 works from the late Charles A. Storke, a long-time Santa Barbara resident, successful business leader, and revered philanthropist, as well as seminal works of Latin American geometric abstraction from Robert and Mercedes Eichholz.

During the past decade the perception of Latin American art has shifted significantly—from an authorial, modernist approach to an open, multiplicitous view embracing artists and movements that were previously ignored. Myth and Materiality is the first exhibition of Latin American art at SBMA to adopt this fresh perspective, which focuses not as much on the artists themselves, but rather on open interpretations and common threads of meaning.

This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of Dody Waugh, Anne and Houston Harte, and Jacquelyn Klein-Brown.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is a privately funded, not-for-profit institution that presents internationally recognized collections and exhibitions and a broad array of cultural and educational activities as well as travel opportunities around the world.

Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA.
Open Tuesday - Sunday 11 am to 5 pm, Chase Free Thursday Evenings 5– 8 pm | 805.963.4364 www.sbma.net

About Santa Barbara Museum of Art:

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is a privately funded, not-for-profit institution that presents internationally recognized collections and exhibitions and a broad array of cultural and educational activities as well as travel opportunities around the world.

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