VIOLENCIA: J.C. ROMERO; Poster
(Argentina): Abril 2000. single color decorated rice paper folio, folded accordion style with tipped in printed papers, stamped. Signed in pencil lower right, with date ("00"). Item #89512
RARE early work by the "grand daddy" of artists books in Argentina. In 1973 he carried out the Violencia installation, where he used press clippings, photos, texts and posters, flooding the three floors of CAYC with the word VIOLENCE. Romero refers to it as "art of ideological awareness", proposing a total immersion of the viewer in the work. The present edition has never been in circulation and as per artist only five copies were made. In 2000 he participated in the 7ma. Bienal de La Habana which was the original of this edition. Juan Carlos Romero (Avellaneda, provincia de Buenos Aires, 1931). He studied engraving with Fernando López Anaya at Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de la Universidad de La Plata where he starts seeking non orthodox engraving. He graduates in teaching in 1961 and pursues his profession at the same institution until 1975. In parallel with his artistic production, he aligns from the 60's with the telephone workers' union wich he joins as an active militant. In 1966, he participates in Homenaje al Vietnam with his work American way of life. This decade's production begins with the examining of the possibilities of graphics in stamping, collage, stencil or photocopy. The aesthetics in his work from this period is related to pop art as from the examination on the effect of lines and articulated geometric forms in juxtaposition that he exhibits at Arte Duro group shows of geometric engravings between 1964 and 1967. One of these experimental works, the pochoir O, is awarded the Gran Premio de Honor from the LVIII Salón Nacional in 1969. In 1970, he is granted the First Prize at Segundo Salón Swift de Grabado with his work Swift in Swift in which, as from a text excerpt by Jonathan Swift printed with a stencil on a 14-meter-long surface, he hints symbolically at the unrest that at the time is gripping the homonymous cold-storage plant in Buenos Aires. At the end of this year, Romero settles -together with other engravers such as Horacio Beccaría, César Fioravanti, Julio Muñeza, Marcos Paley and Ricardo Tau - the group Arte Gráfico Grupo Buenos Aires. Comprised of a mixed array of artists, it stands as an experience to spread graphic work generally at non academic premises, such as factories, plants, or parks, parallel with the idea of artistic work "moving to the streets" that is circulating at the time. As such, he also takes part in 1971 CAYC al aire libre, in Roberto Arlt square in Buenos Aires, with his work El juego lúgubre: action in which a rope, tied as for hanging someone, is expected to arise tensions between two "dialectic opposites", together with a balloon containing a text written in lunfardo (porteño slang), the meaning of which is: "The repressor hits the detainee". Between 1971 and 1975, Romero plays a central role in Grupo de los Trece; at the show Hacia un perfil del arte latinoamericano, where the group exhibits, Romero presents his photographic performance La Realidad Nacional vista desde la ruta 2. The fact that he is included in Experiencias visuales con medios fotográficos at Centro de Experimentación Visual in La Plata this same year, witnesses the breadth of his interest as regards art. Simultaneously, he works from the conceptualism on photographic images published in the mass media. This is the idea portrayed at his installation Violencia that is on exhibit at CAYC in April 1973. There, he shows photographs in large size of the covers of a tabloid that addresses the issue of political actions and police repression in Rosario and Córdoba. The building was covered with enormous billboards displayng the word "Violence" in connection with quotes of several personalities of history related to those two cityes. The artist's reading revolves around the possibilities of a "liberating violence" opposed to a "repressing violence". This same year, he participates with the mural Proceso a nuestra realidad - as a result of a cooperative work with Perla Benveniste, Eduardo Leonetti, Luis Pazos and Edgardo Vigo- in Cuarto Salón del Premio Acrilicopaolini at Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires; as from the phrase "Ezeiza is Trelew" beside a red drop in acrylic he suggests and recognizes the two most shocking political events at the time. Together with Emilio Renart and García Palou, he exhibits in 1976 Dibujos y ejercicios de convivencia. Between 1977 and 1978, he lives in exile in Honduras. Since the 80's, he resumes his working with xerography and the photocopier as from appropiation of photographs, mainly taken from newspapers stating social injustice. As far as his work with the photocopier is concerned, Romero and Fernando Bedoya organize between 1987 and 1994 the four editions of Gráfica Alternativa-Artistas con fotocopias at Centro Cultural Recoleta. This is the place that concentrates work of artists that explore different practices derived from the use of photocopy. Between 1986 and 1988, he is a member of Grupo Gráfica Experimental together with Rodolfo Agüero, Hilda Paz, Susana Rodríguez and Mabel Rubli. This group challenges the engraving's traditional parameters, in an attempt to explore the possibilities of three-dimensional printing through unconventional techniques. In 1988, they present Gráfica y espacio at Centro Cultural Recoleta. In 1988, he establishes Grupo Escombros, together with Horacio D´Alesandro, David Edward, Luis Pazos and Héctor Puppo. Such group self-defined as "artists of the remaining" tries to raise awareness on cultural and ecological issues through the succession of actions generally taken in either abandoned or secluded spots. The group is awarded in 1989 the prize for Visual Experiences by Asociación Argentina de Críticos de Arte. During the 90's, the artist pursues his seeking in various approaches and genre: experiential graphics, installation, mail art, artist's book, performance and visual poetry. He is also a member of 4 para el 2000, together with Agüero, Paz and Teresa Volco, and between 1999 and 2001 of La Mutual Art-gentina, a group that organizes several interventions in the public space. He is also the co-organizer of several "exhibition-books" comprised of graphic work belonging to different artists such as NO al indulto, obediencia debida, punto final (1989), 500 años de represión (1992), 20 años (1996), Nunca más (1997) and La desaparición (1999). In 1997, he is granted the First Prize at V Salón de Dibujo de Santo Domingo; in 1999 the First Prize Joan Brossa to Visual Poetry in Spain, and in 2000 he is invited to participate in Bienal de La Habana. In 1998, he takes part in Identidad, an installation in which an outstanding group of artists aims at asking about the identity and whereabouts of the progeny of the "desaparecidos". In 2000, a main review of his work from the 70's is organized in the exhibition Violencia at Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires. In 2001, he presents together with Carlos Boccardo Otras voces. A 25 años de la dictadura militar, an installation, at Centro Cultural Recoleta. In 2002, he shows at Archimboldo gallery a collection of collages and graphic clippings that gather together several manifestations of pain or endurance that comprise the series "Gritos", and he also introduces another installation: 6 minutos, 700 palabras. His extended teaching activity at Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "Prilidiano Pueyrredón" and "Ernesto de la Cárcova" is recognized when awarded Premio a la Labor Docente de la Asociación Argentina de Críticos de Arte in 2001. He lives and works in Buenos Aires.
Price: $1,600.00