Overview

During the mid-twentieth century, Latin American artists working in several different cities radically altered the nature of modern art. Reimagining the relationship of art to its public, these artists granted the spectator an unprecedented role in the realization of the artwork. The first book to explore this phenomenon on an international scale, Abstraction in Reverse traces the movement as it evolved across South America and parts of Europe. Alexander Alberro demonstrates that artists such as Tomás Maldonado, Jesús Soto, Julio Le Parc, and Lygia Clark, in breaking with the core tenets of the form of abstract art known as Concrete art, redefined the role of both the artist and the spectator. Instead of manufacturing autonomous art, these artists produced artworks that required the presence of the spectator to be complete. Alberro also shows the various ways these artists strategically demoted regionalism in favor of a new modernist voice that transcended the traditions of the nation-state and contributed to a nascent globalization of the art world. 

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9780226393957

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Reviews

An original and comprehensive study of the development of abstract art movements in Latin American cities, <i>Abstraction in Reverse</i> deftly traces South American cultural processes and their ties to European traditions without neglecting the specifics of their individual trajectories. Alberro masterfully examines key works by Tomas Maldonado, Jesus Soto, and Lygia Clark, situating them within vital artistic and intellectual networks and sociopolitical contexts. His approach to the period makes for a persuasive and compelling read. --Maria Amalia Garcia, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas

Alberro's impressive approach to post-Concrete Latin American art sets the stage for a new understanding of modernity as it demonstrates how artists, by reconceiving the spectatorial functioning of abstraction, critically dismantled the modern myth of art autonomy. --Luis P rez-Oramas, Latin American Art Curator, The Museum of Modern Art In this stimulating book Alexander Alberro mines fields well known to scholars of modern Latin American artists in a way that sheds new light. . .Alberro's book is an invigorating refresher course for those deeply immersed in this material and of immense use to the neophyte in matters of mid-twentieth-century art in the Americas. --The Burlington Magazine This book nuances the history of modernist abstraction...the art reproduced is wonderful to see. Recommended. --Choice Abstraction in Reverse deftly traces South American cultural processes and their ties to European traditions without neglecting the specifics of their individual trajectories. This is a compelling read. --Mar a Amalia Garc a, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient ficas y T cnicas Abstraction in Reverse is a must-read for anyone interested in abstract art, its histories, and the different narratives we tell when faced with an increasingly global world. --Kaira M. Caba as, author of Off-Screen Cinema: Isidore Isou and the Lettrist Avant-Garde Engaging and accessible, Abstraction in Reverse astutely explores the question of art's place in society and the surprising extent to which seemingly speculative debates about the framing of modern art can impact the political agenda of the revolutionary Left. --Bruno Bosteels, author of Marx and Freud in Latin America: Politics, Psychoanalysis, and Religion in Times of Terror Abstraction in Reverse offers an urgently needed postcolonial perspective for the study of Latin American art and provides new concepts for exploring visual culture at the crossroads of modernity and globalization. --Andrea Giunta, author of Avant-Garde, Internationalism, and Politics: Argentine Art in the Sixties

This is an outstanding book and a timely intervention in the theory of contemporary abstract and postabstract art in Latin America. Beautifully written, engaging, and accessible, <i>Abstraction in Reverse</i>insightfully explores the question of art s place in society; issues pertaining to the theory of the subject and subject-object relations; and the surprising extent to which seemingly speculative debates about the framing of modern art, at least in the case of certain Latin American art groups and collectives, had a deep impact on the political agenda of the revolutionary left. --Bruno Bosteels, author of Marx and Freud in Latin America: Politics, Religion, and Psychoanalysis in the Age of Terror

<i>Abstraction in Reverse</i> is a must-read for anyone interested in abstract art, its histories, and the different narratives we tell when faced with an increasingly global world. --Kaira M. Cabanas, author of Off-Screen Cinema: Isidore Isou and the Lettrist Avant-Garde

<i>Abstraction in Reverse</i> is a must-read for anyone interested in abstractart, its histories, and the different narratives we tell when faced with an increasingly global world. --Kaira M. Cabanas, author of Off-Screen Cinema: Isidore Isou and the Lettrist Avant-Garde

Author Information

Alexander Alberro is the Virginia Wright Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History at Barnard College and Columbia University.

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