Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención
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The Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención (AACI) is an Argentinian art movement that focuses on Concrete Art. Following WWII, numerous pieces Latin American art as well as several Latin American artists used themes regarding Socialism and Reconstruction. Artists from the AACI proposed, for the first time in the history of Argentina, the necessity for an art that was different from symbolic, representational, and expressionistic art. They believed that their artwork, or "inventions" could harbor social change in their current Argentinian political climate. The founders of the AACI showed similar themes throughout their artworks, such as a desire to appear with universality, objectivity, and lack any sort of representativeness.


Formation

The formation of the Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención officially happened in 1945. The creators of this organization were primarily Tómas Maldonado,
Lidy Prati Lidia "Lidy" Elena Prati (1921–2008) was an Argentine painter who was known for her abstract, geometric paintings. Her artwork called into question representational art and was influential in defining the concrete art movement in Latin America ...
,
Alfredo Hlito Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Fil ...
, Raúl Lozza, Enio Lommi,
Manuel Espinoza Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...
, and
Juan Melé Juan Nicolás Melé (born October 15, 1923 – March 29, 2012) was an Argentine sculptor, painter, and art critic.  Melé was a member of the Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención as well as co-founder of the Grupo Arte Nuevo.  Early l ...
. The creation of the AACI happened because of a difference in artistic beliefs. Maldonado and Prati were married during this time period, despite being in the same artistic group and movement. In 1944, Maldonado,
Rhod Rothfuss Carlos María "Rhod" Rothfuss (1920 – December 31, 1969) was a Uruguayan-Argentine artist who specialized in painting and sculpture. He was considered a key theoretician for the development of the concrete art movement in Argentina in the 1940s a ...
,
Gyula Kosice Gyula Kosice ( hu, Falk Gyula; 26 April 1924 – 25 May 2016), born as Ferdinand Fallik, was a Czechoslovakian-born and naturalized Argentine sculptor, plastic artist, theorist, and poet. He played a pivotal role in defining the concrete and non ...
, Lidy Prati, and
Carmelo Arden Quin Carmelo Arden Quin (''né'' Carmelo Heriberto Alves; 16 March 1913 – 27 September 2010) was a Uruguayan artist. Arden Quin’s primary focuses were painting and poetry. From a young age, Arden Quin was an ambitious and idealistic artist. Today, ...
produced the first and only issue of the illustrated magazine ''Arturo''. The appearance of ''Arturo'' was the beginning of a distinct revolutionary period in Argentinian art. The magazine expressed the founders' shared opposition of representational and symbolic art. However, from the magazine, two artistic groups emerged. Grupo Madi, led by
Arden Quin Arden may refer to: Places ;Australia *Arden, an area in North Melbourne, Victoria near the Arden Street Oval ;Canada * Arden, Ontario ;Denmark * Arden, Denmark, a town **Arden Municipality, a former municipality, including the town of Arden ;U ...
, Kosice, and Rothfuss. And Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención led by Maldonado and Prati.


Influences

The first influence that happened upon the world of Latin American art regarding Concrete Art came from the works of Joaquín Torres-Garcia. In 1936, Torres-Garcia had already referred to invention, speaking about those movements that put new art styles to use, such as Impressionism or Cubism. From Torres-Garcia, came the entirety of the Concrete art movement. Maldonado had a noticeable impact on the AACI because of his restraints he put on the artists and artworks. His political views seemed to influence his views on artwork. Maldonado was a
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
who had certain utopian ambitions for the art created by the AACI in a new revolutionary societal movement in Latin America. The political views demonstrated by AACI members were often communistic and somewhat socialistic as well. While simultaneously following the purist aesthetics of artists such as
Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...
and Theo van Doesburg. The art group rapidly began making waves among the art world and by 1946, Prati and Maldonado had attracted the interest of one of the original practicing concrete artists in Switzerland,
Max Bill Max Bill (22 December 1908 – 9 December 1994) was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer. Early life and education Bill was born in Winterthur. After an apprenticeship as a silversmith ...
.


Arturo Magazine

The aforementioned magazine was the first work by the members of the AACI before they were officially together as a group. The concepts “invention” and “trimmed frame” are used to portray the movement of Concrete Art. These terms originated with the issuing of the Arturo magazine, and are perhaps the most original contributions to the Concrete Art movement. Arden Quin discussed about invention in ''Arturo’s'' first article. He rose against Expressionism, Surrealism, and any form of Realism in his works. This is a common theme among the group and among concrete artists as a whole. Regarding the appearance of Arturo, Ana J. Pozzi-Harris writes, "In the Argentina of the early 1940s, no artist or movement held truly comparable ideas to those exposed in Arturo or in the early exhibitions of the Concrete and Madí artists. Exhibition reviews show that the most successful Argentine artists from this period worked in styles which may be categorized as classical and academic; picturesque and romantic; and expressionist." For a description of the magazine, the cover was an engraving by Tomás Maldonado and in the inner pages were seen several pieces by this artist and by Lidy Prati as well. There also were essays and poems by Edgard Bailey, Gyula Kosice, Torres-García, Vicente Huidobro and
Murilo Mendes Murilo Monteiro Mendes (May 13, 1901 – August 13, 1975) was a Brazilian Modernist poet, considered to be one of the forerunners of the Surrealist movement in Brazil. Biography Mendes was born in Juiz de Fora, in the Brazilian state of Minas Ge ...
, and projects reproduced by
Vieira Da Silva Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (13 June 1908 – 6 March 1992) was a Portuguese Abstract art, abstract painter. She was considered a leading member of the European abstract expressionism movement known as Informalism, Art Informel. Her works featu ...
, Torres-García,
Augusto Torres Augusto is an Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: *Augusto Aníbal *Augusto dos Anjos *Augusto Arbizo *Augusto Barbera (born 1938), Italian law professor, politician and judge *Augusto Bene ...
, Kandinsky, Mondrian and Rothfuss. An important influence that can be seen in the magazine is from the Dutch artist Theo Van Doesburg. He formulated in “''Basis of the Concrete painting''”, in Paris, April 1930. Van Doesburg described concrete art by stating,
"1) Art is universal.
2) The work of art must be conceived and entirely shaped by the spirit before its execution. It must not receive anything from the given shapes of nature, neither from sensuality, nor from sentimentality. We want to exclude lyricism, drama, symbolism, etc.
3) The picture must be entirely built with purely plastic elements, that is to say, planes and colors. A pictorial element has no other significance but that of “itself”.
4) The construction of the picture, as well as that of its elements, must be simple and visually controllable.
5) The technique must be mechanical, that is to say, exact, anti-impressionist.
6) Endeavor for absolute clearness.”
These guidelines for Concrete Art truly united all of the contributor's when creating their artworks for Arturo. Their similar beliefs led to a criticism of all art that could be interpreted, the AACI wanted to have their works be viewed with simplicity and with no forms of interpretation.


Madí and the AACI

From the publication of ''Arturo'', two similar Argentinian artistic groups emerged. These aforementioned groups both believed in the artistic style of Concrete art, however, their perspectives of this type of artwork differed. The Madí's members worked in various ways; they often distributed small posters and pamphlets in the streets of Buenos Aires. They also published the magazine ''Arte Madí Universal'' from 1947 to 1954 and organized art showings that mixed types visual art, poetry, music, and performance to create an encapsulating Concrete Art experience. Their art emphasized materials and the reality of these materials, often changing the conventional frame for strangely shaped canvases and frames to encapsulate their works. In 1946, both groups publicly announced their separations and different agendas through their manifestos. For the AACI, Maldonado read the "Manifiesto Invencionista" (Inventionist Manifesto) in March 1946 at their first exhibition in the Salón Peuser. The Madí read their Manifiesto Madí (Madí Manifesto) altogether at the Instituto Francés de Estudios Superiores in August 1946. Most of the art created by both groups was during the rule of the Argentinian president Juan Domingo Perón. Perón was a former Colonel in the Argentine army whom assumed the power of
President of Argentina The president of Argentina ( es, Presidente de Argentina), officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation ( es, Presidente de la Nación Argentina), is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Ar ...
in February 1946. Perón's extremely authoritarian rule many called "Fascist" used means of mass propaganda, mass appeal, and outright oppressive measures to remain in control of Argentina until 1955. Scholars suggest the political climate of the Peronian era had a direct influence on both the AACI and the Madí. Both parties attempted to use their Communist influence to combat the Perón agenda.


Selected Artworks

''Serial Composition'': A piece made by
Lidy Prati Lidia "Lidy" Elena Prati (1921–2008) was an Argentine painter who was known for her abstract, geometric paintings. Her artwork called into question representational art and was influential in defining the concrete art movement in Latin America ...
, done in 1948, and held in the Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires. The Dutch artist
Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...
is historically found to be a crucial influence on the art of Prati and connections are often made about this piece and his works. This artwork shows a theme of systematic geometric abstraction which can be interpreted through the various red, white, and black rectangles or squares spaced equally far apart from one another in a grid format. This style of equidistant geometric shapes was often seen from various artists in the AACI. ''Coplanar Nº13'': An artwork made by
Juan Melé Juan Nicolás Melé (born October 15, 1923 – March 29, 2012) was an Argentine sculptor, painter, and art critic.  Melé was a member of the Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención as well as co-founder of the Grupo Arte Nuevo.  Early l ...
in 1946 that consists of three different shapes made of wood, colored with oil paint and connected by a metal rod behind each of the shapes. The style used makes an appearance to the viewer that the geometric objects float in front of the wall behind them. Melé often experimented with various frames, backgrounds, and colors. His distinct artistic format is easily recognizable in this piece. ''Coplanar Nº13'' simultaneously shows the core values of the AACI in its universality and lacking of any symbolism or representational effect. ''Composition'': This oil on canvas painting by Tómas Maldonado depicts multiple colored and black lines of different width meeting near the center of the piece to form a rectangular shape. This piece was created in 1950 and is currently being held in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Argentina. Regarding the painting, author María Amalia Garcia describes, "''Composición'' is based on neo-plastic postulates that seek to exalt the white surface by way of tension generated between different elements inscribed on that support." ''Development of a Triangle'': Another oil on canvas painting by Maldonado that exhibits different sized triangles along with several intersecting black lines coming down the canvas. It is currently being held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The piece demonstrates geometric abstraction and follows the strict regiments of any artwork that is considered to be related to the AACI.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención Concrete art Argentine art Art movements