This publication
provides a wide-ranging survey of the Argentinian artist's literary collages—produced
from 1965 to 2013—which use appropriated texts, representing a
kind of experimental writing at the intersection of visual arts, performance, theater, literature, and
activism.
The
starting point of this extensive body of work is Ferrari's
landmark 1966 work Palabras Ajenas (The Words of Others).
Staged only twice, in 1968 and 1972, this literary collage is an
imaginary dialogue among 160 historic figures, composed of fragments
from contemporary news-wires and historical texts. Exploring a
little-known and scarcely analyzed aspect of León
Ferrari's work in order to propose new interpretations, the
publication includes eight substantial essays by academics from Latin
America and Europe with previously unpublished primary source
documents (press notes, photographs, and correspondence, among
others), and more than 100 color and black and white illustrations.
The book is a comprehensive reflection on the intersections between
artistic practices, media, and the climate of political violence in
Latin America.
Published on the occasion of the
eponymous exhibition at REDCAT, Los Angeles, in the context of
"Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA," from September 15, 2017, to December
16, 2018; and at Pérez Art Museum, Miami, from February 16 to
August 12, 2018.
The acclaimed Argentinian> artist León Ferrari (1920–2013),
the voice of a generation, is best known for his politically charged work
that challenged authoritarianism of all types, from the Argentinian
dictatorship and the Catholic Church to the US war in Vietnam.
Edited by
Augustín Diez Fischer, Ruth Estévez, Miguel A.
López. Texts by Pedro Asquini, Augustín Diez
Fischer, Ruth Estévez, Cora Gamarnik, Andrea Giunta, Miguel A.
López, Leopoldo Maler, José A. Sánchez.
