Helio Oiticica
Joaquin Torres-Garcia
Cildo Meireles
Gego
Jesus Soto
Carlos Cruz-Díez
Mira Schendel
Lygia Clark
Lygia Pape
Tomas Maldonado
Gyula Kosice
Alejandro Otero
Alfredo Hlito
Milton Dacosta
Aluísio Carvao
Alfredo Volpi
Willys de Castro
Judith Lauand
Jac Leirner
Antonieta Soto
Cesar Peternosto
Rhod Rothfuss
Waltercio Caldas
Piet Mondrian
Gabriel Perez-Barreiro
Manuel Borja-Villel
Coleccion Patricia Phelps de Cisneros. The show will be composed by two hundred works -painting, sculpture, installation, collage and graphic work- that will grow awareness on a key period of Latin American modernism (from the 40s to the 70s), many unseen in Spain.
Curated by Manuel Borja-Villel and Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro
This will be the first exhibition organised in Europe on the important Colección Patricia
Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC) and the most comprehensive to date as well.
The project belongs to the collaboration agreement signed in 2011 between Museo
Reina Sofía and Fundación Cisneros / Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros. Its main
aim is to enhance interest and knowledge on the importance of Latin America in the
history of Modern and Contemporary art, through developing a number of jointly
organised cultural initiatives.
Curated by Manuel Borja-Villel, director of Museo Reina Sofía, and Gabriel Pérez-
Barreiro, director of Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, the show will be composed
by approximately two hundred works —painting, sculpture, installation, collage and
graphic work— that will grow awareness on a key period of Latin American modernism
(from the 40s to the 70s), many previously unseen in Spain.
This will thus confirm
Museo Reina Sofía’s growing interest in Latin America’s cultural scene, as well as its
vocation of taking an outstanding position as a museo del sur (“southern museum”).
Concrete Invention will include masterpieces donated by Patricia Phelps de Cisneros to
MoMA and which will travel to Spain in the near future.
Some examples are Hélio
Oiticica’s Box Boilde; Joaquín Torres-Garcia’s Construction in Black and White; or
Cildo Meireles’ Fio. Prominent Venezuelan artists such as Gego, Jesús Soto or
Carlos Cruz-Díez; Brazilians such as Mira Schendel, Lygia Clark or Lygia Pape, and
Argentines such as Tomás Maldonado and Gyula Kosice will be represented in the
show. Other relevant creators included will be Alejandro Otero, Alfredo Hlito, Milton
Dacosta, Aluísio Carvão, Alfredo Volpi, Willys de Castro, Judith Lauand, Jac
Leirner, Antonieta Soto, César Peternosto, Rhod Rothfuss or Waltercio Caldas.
Besides, a painting by Piet Mondrian will dialogue with works by other artists whose
work was strongly influenced by the Dutch artist.
The exhibition will also have two interactive spaces that will give visitors access to
archive material in different media. In addition, some of the exhibited artworks will
remain as commodatum at Museo Reina Sofía upon termination of the show.
One of the main aims of the exhibition responds to the wish to analyse and contrast the
different intentions underneath the language of Latin American geometric abstraction
and its derivatives. Instead of focusing on a chronological sequence or geographic
context, Concrete Invention addresses the artists’ intentions as the primary source.
The show will incorporate two technologic platforms with very different objectives: a
playful, interactive website, with a social network approach, accessible and easy to
surf through, both on a computer and on a smartphone; and an iPad app, with a more
educational mission, allowing the user to explore and learn through broad access to
videos, documents, audio and other digital materials.
This isn’t the first time that Fundación Cisneros / Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
and Museo Reina Sofía work together. In March, 2012, a first project was jointly
concluded: the international seminar Rethinking Latin American modernisms.
Flows and
overflows; which gathered the most prominent international specialists on the subject of
Modern Latin American art, with the intention of establishing the critical background that
would help create the upcoming exhibition.
Press contact: Concha Iglesias
prensa1@museoreinasofia.es - prensa2@museoreinasofia.es 91 7741005 / 06
Opening: 22 January 2013
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia
Santa Isabel, 52, Madrid
Hours: Mon-Sat 10-21, Sun 10-14.30
Admission: 6 euro, 3 concessions