Along its millenary history, art has dealt with the circumstances of human existence and, as its organizations developed, has included the conflicts produced by socio-economic systems that define ways of productions, classes and fates, which many times oppose problematically with the vital and spiritual needs of individuals.
In Instancias de lucha, Gabriela Golder deals with the labor world. Inspired by engravings from Tu historia compañero by Guillermo Facio Hebequer, she recreates the poses and gestures of those characters created by this member of Artistas del Pueblo, a group famous for its social and political militancy. Golder choses those images to dramatize them through the performances by workers of recovered factories. The circumstances are comparable with the great hardships endured by the working class during the so-called “infamous decade”. The artist inserts her work in a series titled Escenas de trabajo, where she uses the resources of the moving image to analyze and deconstruct the repetitive labor gestures, here focused on the rebellious and resistant expression that decides, through the organization and defensive action, to twist the fate of misfortune of the most vulnerable segments.
Focusing on the context of Tucumán work tradition, Adrián Sosa makes his video performance Casa, el abrazar del cerco. To build a house of sugarcane in a sugarcane field gathers the history of both a family and a province that has based its economy and culture in monoculture, outlining ways of being and existing.
The photograph La familia obrera by Oscar Bony is the inspiration for Artista obrera by Delfina Liderjover, a video performance where, in the middle of her museum guarding routine, she copied the poses of Bony’s characters. Thus she did a double appropriation: of the surveillance videos and of the registry of the rebellious operation of 1968, bringing back its performatic dimension.
Estanislao Florido uses video animation to reflect on the employment problems in times of crisis. In Cartonero 2, he uses the format of an old videogame taking advantage of the the textures offered by the pixels. The protagonist must dodge the problems of work precariousness, exemplified by the bike messenger that must dodge the obstacles of the street, the city and the society.
Partido [Match] (2019) by Néstor BarbittaFundación Itaú Argentina
Referring to other aspects of the socio-economic situation, Nestor Barbitta takes photographs with a drone of a military zone in the Riachuelo, between Avellaneda and Buenos Aires, a meander drawn by a river where a club that pioneered female soccer is located.
In contrast with this green and clear area, his shot also includes the grey crammed area on the opposite riverbed, which represents the precarious houses of the 21-24 slum, thus confronting visual textures that also contrapose different realities.
In Reperfilando, Leo Nuñez refers to a euphemism to mention debt rescheduling. Fragile beings interact among each other and react to other presences. They respond to an oscillating movement, spin, and every now and then they stop in a vibratory spasm and go back to their usual dance. The author attempts to represent the fluctuations of economic goals in a social group that seems persistent in the idea of repeating disastrous behaviors.
Serie Casi todos, [Almost everyone Series] (2019) by Elisa StradaFundación Itaú Argentina
Based on photographs from street demonstrations, Elisa Strada in her series Casi todos translates aesthetically those images in schematic and flat colors
that simplify and transform into geometric forms, always maintaining the clear presence of the crowd bonded in a temporary though pristine human tide, which implies the encounter for the claim, the struggle and the generation of changes.
Los benjamines [The Benjamins] Los benjamines [The Benjamins] (2020) by Esteban ÁlvarezOriginal Source: Link to the video of the active installation
In a didactic-conceptual operation, Esteban Álvarez proposes with his interactive installation Los benjamines a game of images and words where the meaning of the word “benjamines” slips from our economic culture alluding to the picture of Benjamin Franklin in the hundred dollar bills, to the reference to little children represented by the kindergarten furniture.
Los benjamines [The Benjamins] Los benjamines [The Benjamins] (2020) by Esteban ÁlvarezOriginal Source: Link to the video of the active installation
The drawings that the artist proposes to make –interaction resolved through a website– are a culminating instance in the signification of the work, since the freshness and spontaneity of childish painting is impregnated by the figure of Franklin that is engraved like a stamp on the table where the participants would work, showing a culture that seems to intrude perversely, even in the first steps of our education.
Primer galgo [First greyhound] Primer galgo [First greyhound] (2019) by Bruno Del GiudiceFundación Itaú Argentina
Bruno Del Giúdice, worried about the consumer habits of a marginal society, explores with Primer Galgo the issue of advertising in imitation brands that, like the products they advertise, present confection and functioning problems.
Primer galgo [First greyhound] Work detailFundación Itaú Argentina
He uses the emblem of the greyhound that represents a famous Spanish clothing and accessories firm –Bimba y Lola– that, like any desired brand, has its forgeries and, along with the print on vinyl, the metal structure and the installation of fluorescent tubes that flicker due to their poor performance, creates a speech on a socio-economic situation that is at first adverse, but in which the artist sees an opportunity to propose a dynamic of resistance.
Fundación Itaú Argentina
José Pagés
Clarice Bentolila
Anabella Ciana
Alejandra Saldías
Nancy Chappe
María Florencia Trotta
Mariana Coluccio
Mariano Pastore
Adriana Lauria
Curadora
Eugenia Garay Basualdo
Coordinadora
Celina Marco
Coordinadora Google Arts & Culture
Valentina Bonelli
Traducciones
