Please join us for the celebration of the book launch of “Purity is a Myth: The Materiality of Concrete Art from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay” in a roundtable conversation with Prof. Briony Fer, Professor of History of Art and Research Director at University College London, Dr Lynne Cooke, Senior Curator, Special Projects in Modern Art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and Venezuelan-born artist Ricardo Alcaide.
“Purity is a Myth: The Materiality of Concrete Art from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay” is a volume of essays published by Getty Publications in 2021 and edited by Dr Zanna Gilbert, Dr Pia Gottschaller, Dr Andrew Perchuk and Dr Tom Learner. It presents new scholarship on Concrete art made in postwar Latin America by artists such as Willys de Castro, Lygia Clark, Waldemar Cordeiro, Hermelindo Fiaminghi, Judith Lauand, Raúl Lozza, Tomás Maldonado, Hélio Oiticica, and Rhod Rothfuss.
Drawing on research conducted by the Getty and international partners, the publication addresses topics such as the general history, emergence, and reception of Concrete art; processes and colour; scientific analysis of works; chronologies of the paint industry in Brazil and Argentina; and Concrete design on paper. In our conversation we will discuss some of these newly emerged perspectives and hear from Ricardo Alcaide how his work engages with the legacy of Modernism.
Organised by Dr Pia Gottschaller, Senior Lecturer, The Courtauld and Dr Zanna Gilbert, Senior Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute.
