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26/3/2007

Los Cineticos

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

Group show

A desire to introduce movement as a plastic element, whether in a real way with electrical and mechanical means, or in a virtual way, with optical techniques, has been a constant in 20th-century art. Motion, speed as a reference for modernity and machinery as a symbol of technological progress have been present in avant-garde discourse from the very beginning.

This exhibition aims to map the representation of this desire for movement in art from two basic standpoints.The first defines and tracks kinetic work through the history of art, from the onset of modernity to recent times, though with a transverse perspective rather than by keeping to the strict periods and classifications established traditionally. The second attempts to reinterpret the range and significance of Kineticism as Latin America’s “own” contribution to the general discourse of modern art.

With an impartial “eye”, the show surveys the presence of Kineticism through the century but takes a longer look at certain avant-garde “moments” like Futurism, Constructivism, Dadá and Surrealism in order to explore and project this artistic trend beyond the specific movement that developed in Europe in the mid-20th century. The Argentinian Madi group and certain works by some Latin American "concrete" artists can also be considered from this perspective. The first objective thus allows the inclusion of artists who are not considered technically kinetic, yet who played an important part when it came to laying down the historical foundation of what later became known as the "Kinetic Movement" (Marcel Duchamp, Naum Gabo, László Moholy-Nagy, Giacomo Balla, Man Ray, Salvador Dalí, Alexander Calder...) Furthermore, the show picks up the trail of Kineticism in recent art, establishing formal connections with younger artists like Keiji Kawashima, Felicidad Moreno and José Patricio.

A special pause is made in sixties Paris, where a group of mainly Latin American artists with close links to the gallery owner Denise René presented her with the basic programme for kinetic art. From that moment on the kinetic factor began to be seen as a current seeking to express movement in art via several processes: forming in the observer’s eye the illusion of movement, inducing the observer to shift his position in space in order to (mentally) organize the reading of given sequence(s), or constructing real moving images by means of motors.

In any event, it is important to emphasize that the first proto-kinetic gesture in Latin America, in the strict sense of the term, was made in Buenos Aires, where in 1944 the artist Gyula Kosice created a mobile, semi-articulated sculpture that demanded the active participation of the observer. With this reference piece -titled "Röyi" and on display here- comes the second standpoint of the exhibition.


This second section attempts to reaffirm the importance of Latin American artists within the kinetic current, redefine Latin America’s participation in the movement and include in the project not only those already internationally acclaimed names, but many others who have not taken part in its major exhibitions or have unfortunately not received the recognition they deserve.

Among the renowned Latin American artists regarded by the critics as being within the kinetic current and whose works are on display are Jesús Rafael Soto, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Julio le Parc, etc. Many more, however, are also represented in spite of not having appeared in the major kinetic exhibitions. Lo[s] Cinético[s], therefore, stands out as a space that attempts to diversify the Eurocentric view of 20th-century art by emphasizing the participation and recognition -in some cases posthumously- of all those Latin American artists who made an important contribution to universal art, as is the case, for example, of Matilde Pérez (Chile), Sandú Darié (Cuba) and Abraham Palatnik (Brazil)…

Image: Jesus Rafael Soto

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia
Santa Isabel, 52 - Madrid
Hours: mon-sat 10-21, dom 10-14.30, closed on tuesday

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