| Buenos Aires has become a well-recognized city thanks to its architecture. The city offers an architectural beauty that bears witness to a splendid past, its wines, gourmet food, tango, literature of writers such as Borges and Cortazar, Piazzolla’s music, its hospitality, and art. Buenos Aires’ art history is generous in personal narratives and rich tradition charged with subjectivity. The city offers an exciting cosmopolitan nightlife characterized by sensuality and cadence of its Latin American roots. These traits glide into an intense artistic production, seen in museums, cultural centers, established as well as emerging galleries, with everything culminating in one of the most important art fairs in Latin America, ArteBA. AtrteBA has become a meeting point of all art in the Latin American market—be it avant-garde, exotic, experimental, or traditional. |  |
Buenos Aires has become a well-recognized city thanks to its architecture. The city offers an architectural beauty that bears witness to a splendid past, its wines, gourmet food, tango, literature of writers such as Borges and Cortazar, Piazzolla’s music, its hospitality, and art. Buenos Aires’ art history is generous in personal narratives and rich tradition charged with subjectivity. The city offers an exciting cosmopolitan nightlife characterized by sensuality and cadence of its Latin American roots. These traits glide into an intense artistic production, seen in museums, cultural centers, established as well as emerging galleries, with everything culminating in one of the most important art fairs in Latin America, ArteBA. AtrteBA has become a meeting point of all art in the Latin American market—be it avant-garde, exotic, experimental, or traditional. ArteBA consists of mainly visual artists and galleries from Argentina, including two prestigious galleries in Argentina, Gachi Prieto Arte Latino Americano Contemporáneo and Braga Menendez Contemporáneo. In addition, galleries from Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Uruguay display their best at ArteBA, contributing to the most visited cultural event in Buenos Aires.
Diversity in Buenos Aires’ contemporary art scene is also reflected in its intellectuals’ artistic qualities: the polished textures and the deep socio-conceptual practices of Andres Waissman, the baroque poetry of Juan Martin Jaures, the strength of the space of Chino Soria’s works, Carla Bertone’s chromatic purity, the sordid humor of Carlos Herrera, the implicit literature of Maria Noel, Josefina Robirosa’s sophisticated paintings, the cryptic and unsettling intelligence of Leonel Luna’s installations, Claudia del Rio’s collage characters, the psychoanalytic metaphysics of Nessy Cohen’s mental stages, the color and the estrangement of Miguel Mitlag’s photo/installations, extremely personal pictorial quality in the work of Claudia Mazzucchelli, the poetic and humanistic reflections of Sebastiano Mauri’s projections, and the enchantment associated with the work of Rafael Gonzalez Moreno.
The 1960s was a golden age for the arts in Argentina. As in many countries, the decade brought new freedom and questions to young people, and the art scene responded vigorously. Artistic activity was focused around the center of Buenos Aires between Plaza San Martin and Avenida Cordoba, an area known as the “manzana loca” (crazy block). This area contained a huge number of galleries and cafés, and most importantly, the Di Tella Institute, a privately-funded art center which was at the cutting edge of the visual arts. Artistic movements of the time ranged from a raw expressionism called “Nueva Figuración” to sophisticated conceptual art. The most provocative form of art during this period took the form of “happenings,” one of the most famous of which (by Marta Minujin) consisted of a replica of the Buenos Aires obelisk made in sweet bread, which was then eaten by passers-by.
After the military coup of 1966 the authorities began to question the activities of these young artists, and even tried to censor some exhibitions. The Di Tella Institute closed, leaving the “manzana loca” without a center, and making it more difficult for alternative young artists to live without harassment. During the years of the military government in the 1970s, there was little space for alternative art, and many left-wing artists abandoned art in favor of direct political action. The Centro de Arte y Comunicación (CAYC), a space in Buenos Aires, however, continued to show politically challenging art, often through works which were so heavily coded that the authorities would not pick up the message.
The 80s and 90s were harder than the late 70s. The cultural crisis was covered by an artificial economic well-being under Menem’s double presidency. The one-on-one peso and dollar opened borders, and allowed most of the Argentinean middle class to explore the world and raise their living standards. At the same time, slowly in the basis of society a greater social, economical, political, and cultural crisis was developing. Things got worse and worse, and the so-called well-being collapsed. People wanted a change. And society began to act again, not only in the political arena but in the cultural field as well.
Since the restoration of democracy in 1983, Argentina has been coming to terms with the destruction or inefficiency of many of its cultural institutions over recent decades. The last few years have seen a rebirth of activity, with improvements in the National Museum of Fine Arts, the creation of Centro Cultural Recoleta, and more recently, the Centro Cultural Jorge Luis Borges (in the Galerías Pacífico). There are important alternative art centers, especially the Ricardo Rojas Centre and the Klemm Foundation, which show some of the most interesting young artists. The art scene in Buenos Aires is now revived and very vibrant. Taking advantage of the new economical situation, Argentinean artists grab the chance to show their work and revitalize the cultural environment. Many cultural events take place in several neighborhoods. This art and culture scene is not a second edition of what happened 30 years ago; it is completely new, expressing original and unusual art styles and techniques, mixing avant-garde art, music, and design.
Groups of art lovers got together and formulated the concept of gallery nights. Every last Friday of every month Buenos Aires’ downtown Retiro turns into a huge showroom, as every art gallery, museum, and art shop in the area open their doors during the night for a superb art event where new artists are presented and fine art is purchased. With its impact on adjacent countries such as Uruguay and Punta del Este, Buenos Aires is regaining its place as the cultural and aesthetic center in Latin America.
