Spanning Modernism: From Matta to Marisol

Marcelo Bonevardi, Fernando Botero, Santiago Cárdenas Arroyo, Marisol Escobar, Agustín Fernández, Roberto Matta, Armando Reverón, Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Toledo, Joaquín Torres-García

Leon Tovar Gallery is pleased to present Spanning Modernism: From Matta to Marisol. An encompassing exhibition that brings together some of the most recognizable names in art from Latin America, the show offers an inclusive range of artistic approaches, from the Impressionist sensibilities of Armando Reverón to the singular aesthetic of Fernando Botero. Compliments and conversations abound, giving form to inter-generational dialogues, stylistic parallels, and a wealth of innovative approaches. The scumbled, heavily worked surfaces of Rufino Tamayo’s Mujer al espejo (1960) and Francisco Toledo’s Personaje (1962) render their depicted figures unrecognizable, while Santiago Cárdenas Arroyo’s enigmatic Black Overcoat with Umbrella (1983) captures all the sumptuous detail of an object as mundane as a hanging overcoat.The rich and velvety drawing is approximately life-size, conjuring the sensation of viewing an actual object hanging from a white wall, a feat of tromp l’oeil skill that the Cuban Agustín Fernández matches in his hallucinatory compositions.

Highlights include Membranes de l’espace (1942), an early painting by Roberto Matta that was exhibited in a 1944 solo exhibition at the Pierre Matisse Gallery—one of the most important galleries for introducing European modernism to New York audiences and inspiring the next generation of American artists. Awash with beiges and smoky grays, the seemingly barren scene is home to a network of curves and spindles evoking the cracks in Marcel Duchamp’s famous The Bridge Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even. Also on view is Marisol’s portrait sculpture of Picasso, part of the “Artists and Artistes” series, which serves as the artist’s homage to her forebears. Using photographs of Picasso at the beach and in his studio, [1] Marisol made the original wooden sculpture in 1977 along with a small edition of bronzes before casting another edition of six in 1981.Taken as a whole, these Picassos have been widely exhibited, with one bronze from 1981 exhibited in the 1988 Venice Biennial. The Picasso on view is number 3 of the 1981 bronzes, and serves as a stunning testament to Marisol’s unique vision and deadpan humor.The influential artist sits with a thoughtful expression on his face, two pairs of hands fluttering in an evocation of his prolific output, his arms substituted—in a visual pun—for the “arms” of the chair. [2]

1 - Roberta Bernstein,“Marisol as Portraitist:Artists and Artistes,” Arts Magazine, May 1981.

2 - Ibid.