Leon Ferrari

León Ferrari (Buenos Aires, Argentina 1920 - idem 2013)

León Ferrari was an Argentine painter, printmaker, sculptor, and multimedia artist, known for his provocative and politically engaged work. He began his artistic career in sculpture during a three-year stay in Italy, where, in 1955, he held a solo exhibition at the Cariola Gallery in Milan. Returning to Argentina, he began working with wire and stainless steel sculptures in 1960, in addition to developing calligraphic drawings and collages, which marked a new phase in his aesthetic research.

His involvement with the Instituto di Tella in Buenos Aires, starting in 1965, marked a significant shift toward a more politicized and critical production. In this context, he abandoned abstraction and began producing works that questioned power, religion, and authoritarian regimes. He participated in emblematic actions such as Tucumán Arde and Malvenido Rockefeller, between 1968 and 1969, which expressed strong opposition to repression and foreign domination in Latin America. In 1976, he moved to São Paulo, where he resumed his metal sculpture production and also began exploring sound sculptures.

During his time in Brazil, he developed works influenced by artists such as Regina Silveira and Julio Plaza, incorporating new media into his practice, such as videotext, microfiche, mail art, and artist's books. He also worked with lithography and received the award for best exhibition of the year from the São Paulo Association of Art Critics (APCA) in 1983. In 1984, he returned to Buenos Aires, further expanding his language by integrating digital media in works such as Electronicartes, from 2002/2003.

Besides his visual production, León Ferrari was also an active author, publishing books with strong critical and political content, such as Nosotros No Sabíamos (1976), Cuadro Escrito (1984), Exégesis (1993), and La Bondadosa Crueldad (2000). That same year, he was awarded the Costantini Prize, solidifying his position as one of the most relevant and combative artists in contemporary Latin American art.

Critical Commentary

Leon Ferrari's production encompasses diverse fields, such as three-dimensional art, drawing, writing, collage, assemblage, installation, and video. His work is marked by an intense process of experimentation.

In 1961, the artist began creating metal sculptures. Gradually, he incorporated texture and movement into his compositions through the use of sheets of various sizes and different metals. He also began exploring unusual materials, such as bottles, cut-out images, and plastic objects, and even worked with live animals in some works, such as Justicia (1991).

At the same time, he began the series Escrituras, Manuscripts, in which he freely associated ideas and words, linked by a poetic meaning and, at times, intertwined with biblical references. As scholar Andrea Giunta notes, Cuadro Escrito [Written Picture] (1964) is one of the most extensive of these works. In this work, the words undulate, the letters blend, yet they are always legible: the text describes a painting, as if the artist could paint it with words.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, he lived in São Paulo. He returned to abstract sculpture and drawing and became interested in new expressive media, encouraged by his association with Regina Silveira and Julio Plaza. In addition to lithography, he began working with videotext, microfiche, mail art, and artist's books. He also creates sound sculptures using metal bars.

More recently, back in Argentina, he has explored the digital medium for his projects, such as in Electronicartes (2002/2003), in which he sends images related to events that occurred during the period via email, such as the September 11 attacks in New York (2001), the bombing of Baghdad (2003), terrorism, US politics, justice and the economy in Argentina, among other topics, always motivated by a sense of social and political critique.

Collections

Collection of the Pinacoteca of the State of São Paulo/Brazil (São Paulo, SP)
House of the Americas (Havana, Cuba)
Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center (Havana, Cuba)
University of São Paulo Contemporary Art Museum Collection (São Paulo, SP)
Museum of Modern Art Collection - MAM/RJ (Rio de Janeiro, RJ)
Museum of Modern Art Collection - MAM/SP (São Paulo, SP)
El Museo del Barrio (New York, United States)
National Arts Fund (Buenos Aires - Argentina)
Carrillo Gil Art Museum - MACG (Mexico City, Mexico)
Museum of Contemporary Art (Buenos Aires - Argentina)
Museum of Modern Art (Mexico City, Mexico)
Museum of Modern Art La Tertulia (Cali, Colombia)
Museum of Solidarity Salvador Allende (Santiago, Chile)
Museum of Engraving (Buenos Aires - Argentina)
Museum of Brazilian Art - MAB/FAAP (São Paulo, SP)
Museum of Art of São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand - MASP (São Paulo, SP)
Museum of Modern Art - MAMba (Buenos Aires - Argentina)
The Bronx Museum of the Arts (New York, United States)

Solo Exhibitions

1962 - Milan, Italy - Solo Pater
1964 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Solo Lizolay
1978 - São Paulo, SP - Solo, at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo
1979 - São Paulo, SP - Solo, at the Gabinete de Artes Gráficas
1980 - São Paulo, SP - Solo, at MAM/SP

Group Exhibitions

1963 - Paris, France - Latin American Art, at the Musée d'Art Moderne
1965 - New York, USA - Buenos Aires 64, at MoMA
1978 - Penápolis, SP - 3rd Northwest Fine Arts Salon, at Fundação Educacional de Penápolis, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Penápolis
1978 - São Paulo, SP - 10th Panorama of Contemporary Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1978 - São Paulo, SP - 1st Exhibition of Furniture and Unusual Objects, at Paço das Artes
1979 - São Paulo, SP - Playful Sculpture Exhibition, at MASP
1980 - São Paulo, SP - 12th Panorama of Contemporary Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1981 - Cali, Colombia - Bienal de Cali
1981 - Guarujá, SP - Open-Air Sculpture, at Hotel Jequitimar
1981 - São Paulo, SP - 13th Panorama of Contemporary Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1981 - São Paulo, SP - Heliography Exhibition, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1982 - Belo Horizonte, MG - 14th National Contemporary Art Salon of Belo Horizonte, at Museu de Arte da Pampulha
1982 - São Paulo, SP - Art by Telephone, at MIS/SP
1983 - Ribeirão Preto, SP - Xerography: Brazilian Sampling, at Galeria Campus
1983 - São Paulo, SP - 17th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1983 - São Paulo, SP - Today: Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, and Musical Instruments, at Poesia e Arte
1983 - São Paulo, SP - Percanta, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1983 - São Paulo, SP - Reinterpretation Project, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1984 - Santo André, SP - 12th Contemporary Art Salon of Santo André, at Paço Municipal
1984 - São Paulo, SP - 15th Panorama of Contemporary Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1984 - São Paulo, SP - Arte Xerox Brasil, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1984 - São Paulo, SP - Reinterpretation of the Bible, at Galeria Suzana Sasson
1985 - Penápolis, SP - 6th Northwest Fine Arts Salon, at Fundação Educacional de Penápolis, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Penápolis
1985 - São Paulo, SP - 16th Panorama of Contemporary Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1985 - São Paulo, SP - 18th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1985 - São Paulo, SP - Art and Technology, at MAC/USP
1985 - São Paulo, SP - New Media Art: Brazil 70/80, at MAB/FAAP
1985 - São Paulo, SP - Trends in the Artist's Book in Brazil, at CCSP
1985 - São Paulo, SP - Transcreate, at CCSP
1985 - São Paulo, SP - Transcreate, at MAC/USP
1986 - Fortaleza, CE - Imagine: The Planet Salutes the Comet, at Arte Galeria
1986 - São Paulo, SP - The New Dimension of Objects, at MAC/USP
1987 - Brasília, DF - Paulistas in Brasília, at Museu de Arte de Brasília
1987 - São Paulo, SP - The Fabric of Taste: A New Look at Everyday Life, at Fundação Bienal
1987 - São Paulo, SP - Word Magic, at MAC/USP
1988 - Campinas, SP - 13th Contemporary Art Salon of Campinas, at MACC – invited artist
1988 - São Paulo, SP - MAC 25 Years: Recent Acquisitions and Donations, at MAC/USP
1992 - Campinas, SP - Award Winners of the Contemporary Art Salons of Campinas, at MACC
1993 - São Paulo, SP - MASP at Morumbi Shopping, at Shopping Morumbi
1994 - São Paulo, SP - Brazil 20th Century Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1995 - Belo Horizonte, MG - Babel Project, at Praça da Liberdade
1995 - São Paulo, SP - Babel Project, at SESC Pompéia
1996 - Porto Alegre, RS - Latin American Fine Arts Meeting - Art in Latin America: 100 Years of Production, at UFRGS
1996 - São Paulo, SP - Ex Libris/Home Page, at Paço das Artes
1997 - Belo Horizonte, MG - What Happens When You Move?, at Sala Multimeios, Palácio das Artes
1997 - New York, USA - Re-Aligning South-American Drawing
1997 - São Paulo, SP - The City of Artists, at MAC/USP
2000 - São Paulo, SP - Almeida Júnior: A Revisited Artist, at Pinacoteca do Estado
2000 - São Paulo, SP - Conceptual Art and Conceptualisms: 70s in the MAC/USP Collection, at Sesi Art Gallery
2000 - São Paulo, SP - Brazilian Sculpture: From the Pinacoteca to Jardim da Luz, at Pinacoteca do Estado
2000 - São Paulo, SP - The Role of Art, at Sesi Art Gallery
2001 - São Paulo, SP - Brazilian Culture 1, Casa das Rosas
2002 - São Paulo, SP - Art and Politics, at MAM Higienópolis
2002 - São Paulo, SP - Strategies to Amaze, at Sesi Art Gallery
2003 - São Paulo, SP - The Subversion of the Means, at Itaú Cultural
2003 - São Paulo, SP - Compressors and Condensers, at Espaço MAM – Villa-Lobos
2003 - São Paulo, SP - MAC USP 40 Years: Contemporary Interfaces, at MAC/USP
2004 - São Paulo, SP - Contemporary Art at Iberê Camargo’s Studio, at Centro Universitário Maria Antonia