The Rise of Abstraction in South America

Written by Zak Baumker

Excitement and infatuation began to take hold of South American artists shortly after their introduction to international modern art in the 1920’s and 30’s. An encouraged pursuit and exploration of new ideas flourished in multiple South American countries. Visual language is challenged and a sense of innovation is felt throughout the region. Links between nations art can be seen, but the artists are still able to differentiate themselves from each other. A break from the normality of following European art movements allows South America to leave it’s footprint on the international art world. It’s artists produce a variety of movements including Geometric Abstraction, Kineticism, Concretism, and Universalism which opens a new space for representation.

Due to the end of World War II people everywhere attempted to re-define visual culture and language in a non-representational manner because of the great destruction enacted upon people's homes and bodies. After the war, circulation of the abstract aesthetic traveled across and around the world as a way to cope with and understand the tragic happenings of the world. In spite of South America not being directly inflicted with the pains of the war, abstraction landed and began to develop within each countries own cultural context. With guidance and inspiration from Mondrian and the Neoplasticist movement in Europe, the South American abstract artists intended to re-interpret and strengthen the ideas begun overseas. An aesthetic reinterpretation of abstraction through geometric forms and the breaking of the picture frame differentiates South American Abstraction from the rest of the world’s abstract interpretations. The use of wall sculpture begins to define a new type of painting with the idea that architecture will frame and contain a painting not a flat rectangular canvas. In addition, gestural qualities begin to be seen within free-standing sculpture and installation where a sense of movement is portrayed. Concretism also begins to define the extent of theorization and conceptualization that is occurring within the region. Where artists choose to get rid of the illusionism that is contained within abstracting reality, and choose to create solely from their own mind.

During this time the political and economic states of each country had an influence on both the acceptance and limitation of art. Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, and Brazil being the main focal points of abstraction in South America, and countries who struggled and prospered with changes in government and economics. Beginning with Uruguay one of the smallest republics of South America and home to Joaquin Torres-Garcia a great influencer on abstract art. Even though Uruguay is one of the smallest countries it was well-known for a higher standard of living, which was inhabited by majorly Spanish and Italian immigrants. The Great Depression of 1929 hit the economy of Uruguay and led it to completely fall apart and shrink; therefore, resulting in the eventual collapse of the government. Nearest to Uruguay would be Argentina which capital city is Buenos Aires,  the largest city in all of South America at the time. Argentina created institutions which greatly developed the art scene in South America, an example of these institutions being Buenos Aires Museo de Arte Moderno. Unluckily, Argentina went through a period of governmental corruption, political suppression, and economic decline during the introduction of abstraction in South America, which stunted their art scenes growth slightly. In Brazil there were three museums built including: Museu de Arte Moderna (Rio de Janeiro) , Museu de Arte de São Paulo and Museu de Arte Moderna (São Paulo). The government's investment into the arts sparked the countries creative communities, and allowed artists to exhibit in a major institutions alongside international artists. Equalizing the Brazilian artists position within the overall landscape of art. Another great example of governments influence upon the arts occurred in Venezuela where the radical change of power determines arts allowance to be shown and accepted. Although the changes in governmental power occurred frequently, governmental commissions were still granted, and allowed artists to also prosper aside international artists, and gain credibility and recognition. 

    Universalism was an art movement conceived by Joaquin Torres-Garcia an artist who was born in Uruguay. Inspiration for this movement stemmed from modern European art and constructivist examples. Torres-Garcia comprehended “constructivism as an aesthetic system based on a universal cosmic order similar to the philosophy embraced by pre-Columbian societies “. Circle and Square a constructivist group was co-founded in Paris by Torres-Garcia and would be the first constructivist group he associated with. Through this group the first international exhibition of constructive and abstract art was held in Paris; in turn, this gave credibility to artists affiliated with the movement. Later, Joaquin Torres-Garcia attempted to introduce the avant-garde to the people and artists who were unaware in Uruguay. Although this was quite unsuccessful… the founding of the Asociacion de Arte Constructivo and publication of his two books (Estructura and Universalismo Constructivo) allowed his concepts to spread around the region and the world.

    Kineticism was an art movement which attempts to portray a sense of movement and energy through a visual representation. An artist who greatly pushed this concept was Jesus Rafael Soto, with the pursuance and study of optical vibrations. In the end it was an attempt for Soto to “push abstraction beyond illusionism” . Other artists within the movement tackled ideas of perception, dialogue, and sensuality. These ideas seen portrayed in Gego’s gestural wire installations/sculptures and Carlos Cruz-Diez’s painted strips of color on canvas. Outside of South America the American artist Alexander Calder also worked with the idea of movement in art. His portrayal of Kineticism is seen through his hanging and moving sculptures developed after pursuing an engineering degree in college. Eventually, Calder’s work was shown in both Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where it influenced Kinetic artists and cemented the movement as an international development and influence upon the art world.

    Geometric Abstraction may possibly be the way to generally group all the abstract art coming out of South America from 1930-1970. However, this would truly be a falsification of the South American art scene if accepted as truth. Some artists theories and concepts negate the classification of their work as an abstraction; therefore, this minimizes the amount of artists included within this movement. The founding of the Taller Libre de Arte (Open Art Studio) in Venezuela fostered the debate against established art practices, and ushered in Geometric Abstraction. Alejandro Otero a Venezuelan artist, became a South American who was able to propel their art into the international scene. With inspiration from Mondrian and other Neo-Plasticists, Alejandro Otero and other Geometric Abstract painters attempted to further develop Neoplasticism. Alejandro Otero ultimately developed a group known as Los Disdentes (The Dissidents), with the goal of circulating ideas through Paris and Venezuela. Artists within the group who came back to Venezuela were commissioned to create public art alongside international artists at the Ciudad Universitaria. This inclusion allowed an enormous exposure of South American artists to the international art world. These commissions and governmental contracts showed the importance of art in contemporary South America.

    Concretism was a movement with the idea to create solely from the mind, and with no fabrication or abstraction of reality. The single publication of Arturo magazine began the eventual emergence of the Argentine Avant-Garde and Concrete Art. Essentially, the goal of the publication was to displace traditional European ideas within South America, and introduce abstraction to people within the region. After this was published three major groups emerged… including : Arte Concreto-Invencion, Grupo Madi, and Perceptismo. The Arte Concreto-Invencion group sought after the inclusion of art as a prominent role in educating society; moreover, they thought art was the way to create harmony across society. This group also believed in the breaking of the picture frame, seen through placement of painted shapes on the wall. They used unconventional industrial materials to develop and form the majority of their art. Grupo Madi was another group who crossed nearly all disciplines, and attempted to change artistic practice within all mediums. Instead of breaking from the picture frame completely, Madi artists chose to create irregularly shaped frames that attempted to portray a certain dynamicity. Finally, Raul Lozza broke away from Arte Concreto-Invencion to create another movement known as Perceptismo. It’s creation intended to disrupt any concept of illusion created through abstraction. It also was a movement that eliminated the frame, and allowed the wall to determine the picture edge. All three of these groups exhibited together in Buenos Aires and Paris. This influenced deliberation and debate between the artists of the time, and inspired future abstract artists.

    Directly following Concretism came the Neo-Concrete movement. This new group of artists re-evaluated the concepts that inspired the original South American abstract artists. They mostly chose to continue the aesthetic practice of Concretism, but subverted the ideas and theories previously developed. A general idea that Neo-Concrete artists tended to think about was the expression of our complex reality. Artists also began to introduce viewer interactivity to their installation and sculpture works. Further expanding the portrayal and limitations of Concrete Art.

Flowing parallel to the influx of South American abstract art were many movements that  attempted to perfect the power and creation of non-representational art. Namely, the Abstract Expressionist and Minimalist movements that began in the United States during the post-war period. Abstract Expressionist painters attempted to portray vivaciousness and release of emotion through gestural brushstrokes, this contradicts the precise geometric abstractions that flourish in South America. Minimalism more similarly portrays the aesthetic acts that South American artists choice to take, using simple forms and lines to create the whole artwork. Although the theories of each movement still contradict one another, where minimalists believe the object or experience of seeing the object is fulfilling-enough. While South Americans developed ideas on breaking from abstractions illusionism and the European tradition. Another group that emerged during this same period of time was the Japanese Avant-Garde or Gutai Group who greatly influenced future performance art and challenged the use of the body within a variety of mediums. However, South American movements only partially took hold of performance art during the Neo-Concrete movement.

        South America became an essential contributor to the advancement of visual language and influenced the overall acceptance and ease of access granted through abstract art. Abstract art promoted a dialectic between groups in South American society and the radical idea of defining the artistic legacy of a whole region pushed artists to continuously innovate and break the status quo. This conversation between movements and groups led to the eventual cultivation of South America’s original art scene, and it’s removal or at least separation from European tradition. A tradition which had plagued and taken hold of many South American art institutions, and eventually led to the protest and re-evaluation of South America’s art history. Each countries contribution to the advancement of arts conveyed the richness and important role that art plays in everyday society. Additionally, it shows how government influence can determine the cultivation or degradation of an arts movement.