Images from MFAH Exhibit “Antonio Berni: Juanito and Ramona”
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has a great new exhibit featuring works from Argentinean artist Antonio Berni:
Antonio Berni: Juanito and Ramona
Nov 10, 2013 – Jan 26, 2014
Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Law Building, Second Floor
1001 Bissonnet, Houston TX 77005
About the Exhibit, as provided by MFAH:
Argentinean artist Antonio Berni (1905–1981) was widely recognized early in his career as a leading painter and promoter of his own brand of “New Realism” in Latin America. But in the mid-1950s, motivated by the social distress and poverty he witnessed in Argentina amid social unrest and the country’s industrialization, Berni abandoned painting for assemblage. He devoted much of the rest of his life to chronicling the tales of Juanito Laguna and Ramona Montiel, fictional characters that he constructed out of trash, machine parts, and other discards from everyday life. Their experiences exposed the undercurrents of Argentinean society.
Within his own lifetime, Berni witnessed his creations—Juanito, a boy of the shantytowns, and Ramona, a working-class woman forced into prostitution—become popular legends and folk heroes. A collaboration between the MFAH and Malba – Fundación Costantini in Buenos Aires, Antonio Berni: Juanito and Ramona is the first exhibition to focus on this iconic series and Berni’s related series of monumental “Monsters,” as well as the first Berni exhibition organized by a U.S. museum in nearly 50 years.
Argentinean artist Antonio Berni (1905–1981) was widely recognized early in his career as a leading painter and promoter of his own brand of “New Realism” in Latin America. But in the mid-1950s, motivated by the social distress and poverty he witnessed in Argentina amid social unrest and the country’s industrialization, Berni abandoned painting for assemblage. He devoted much of the rest of his life to chronicling the tales of Juanito Laguna and Ramona Montiel, fictional characters that he constructed out of trash, machine parts, and other discards from everyday life. Their experiences exposed the undercurrents of Argentinean society.Here are a few images to tempt you to check out the exhibit in person.
![2013.11 Berni - Sin t+¡tulo [(Monstruo de la pesadilla de Ramona) o Un Monstruo]](http://hispanichouston.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/2013.11-Berni-Sin-t+¡tulo-Monstruo-de-la-pesadilla-de-Ramona-o-Un-Monstruo.jpg)
Antonio Berni, Sin título (Ramona levantando pesas), de la serie Ramona Montiel y sus amigos {Untitled (Ramona Lifting Weights), from the series Ramona Montiel and Her Friends}, 1963, xylo-collage-relief, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by Tom Roupe and Scott Gieselman in honor of Peter R. Coneway at “One Great Night in November, 2001.” © José Antonio Berni
Antonio Berni, El coronel golpista, no. 2, 1964, oil, wood, paper, egg carton, cardboard, metal, string on plywood, Private Collection,© José Antonio Berni-Sucesión Lily Berni
Antonio Berni, Juanito con la moto, c. 1972, oil, wood, and fabrics including glued cotton and sock; shoe; industrial trash including radio components, rubber tires, and plastic containers; metals including a chain and sheet metal, nails, and staples on wood, Private Collection. © José Antonio Berni
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NOTES:
- Featured image credit: Antonio Berni, Las vacaciones de Juanito (Juanito’s Vacation), 1972, acrylic, wood, various metals including a car door, rubber, broom straw, various fabrics, paper, and jute on wood, Private Collection. © José Antonio Berni.
- Hispanic Houston calendar listing.
- All images courtesy of MFAH.
Sandra Fernandez is a professional communicator, tech enthusiast, book lover, and blogger. You can find her main blog at SandraSays.com and more of her writing at HispanicHouston.com.
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