Exclusion

Pablo Suárez was an outstanding creator who was involved during five decades in many pivotal moments of Argentine history of contemporary art. Mentored by Alberto Greco, he exhibited his works at the mythical Lirolay gallery. He also collaborated with Marta Minujín and Rubén Santantonín for the installation La Menesunda, and participated in several exhibitions at the Instituto Di Tella. He quitted the show Experiencias ’68 by sending a resignation letter in which he repudiated its elitism and cultural centralization, and was part of the collective exhibition Tucumán arde. Some years later, he acknowledged the limits of conceptualism and advocated for a return to painting, as well as for a new approach to telluric art. Exclusión— winner piece of Premio Costantini in 1999— is a parodic account of the process of impoverishment in Argentine society that took place by the end of the nineteen-nineties. Created with polyester and epoxy resin, it introduces a person hanging from a footboard, on a train traveling at full speed—a graphic metaphor of social deprivation and classlessness. As regards its nature, Suárez said: “Caricaturing highlights the situation and frames it within a parodical scheme that allows for under- standing the message and avoids the risk of exaggerated dramatization.”