Cuerpos Contacto [Contact Bodies] is an exhibition that brings together works from the Museo Moderno collection and others that have been created by guest artists. It traces a journey from the 1960s to the present day, in which it reflects on the body from the perspective of diversity, including all possible identities and genders. Over the course of this journey, the struggles of the sexual liberation movement gave visibility to the body as a territory of both pleasure and dispute.
The relationship between art and friendship, music, partying and clothing was key in the City of Buenos Aires to express the plurality of diverse sexual identities, genders and different ways of life. These encounters were just as fundamental in the 1960s under the stimulus of Pop Art as they were in the heyday of the underground scene in the 1980s and 1990s. Sergio De Loof (Buenos Aires, 1962-2020) was one of the most iconic artists from the vibrant era of the final decades of the 20th century. This exhibition celebrates the incredible bequest of 82 of his works to the museum’s collection, generously donated by his family. His boundless creativity led to the opening of spaces for collective encounter and enjoyment: bars, discos and catwalks where artistic creativity prevailed and different identities, body types and social classes interacted.
These past two years of isolation due to the pandemic generated a profound introspective reflection on human relations and the importance of contact between people, as well as the social habits and rituals that have emerged throughout history to lead our public and private lives. At the same time, global and regional events took place that marked a turning point in terms of the care and respect we must have for our own bodies and those of others.
In this context, the time span featured in Cuerpos contacto highlights both the continuities and changes that took place in art as a manifestation of the demands of the bodies, represented by a profound feeling of civic freedom that was ultimately decisive in the generation and transformation of artistic practices such as happenings, performances, and even theatre. In all of these experiences, the body is a vehicle for emancipation, combining community work and the construction of defiant identities.
This exhibition looks at the art and culture of Argentina with the aim of providing an understanding of the past and present of the struggles for equality.
Curators: Francisco Lemus, Marcos Krämer, Clarisa Appendino, Violeta González Santos
Artists: Marie Louise Alemann, Mercedes Azpilicueta, Básica T.V., Elba Bairon, Rodolfo Bulacio, Delia Cancela, Comparsa Drag, Jimena Croceri, Alicia D´Amico, Sergio De Loof, Marga Fuentes, Gambas al ajillo, Edgardo Giménez, Alberto Goldestein, Guillermo González Ruiz, Pompi Gutnisky, Roberto Jacoby, Alejandro Kuropatwa, David Lamelas, Liliana Maresca, Pablo Mesejean, Marta Minujín, La Organización Negra, Martha Peluffo, Dalila Puzzovio, Kiwi Sainz, Oscar Smoje, Aldo Sessa, Julieta Steimberg, Juan Stoppani.
La Fábrica – Cuerpos Contacto
We are pleased to present a new episode of La fábrica [The Factory], where we will take you behind the scenes of the Cuerpos Contacto [Contact Bodies] exhibition.
In this episode, Francisco Lemus, Head of the Curatorial Department, and María Bárbara Venancio, producer, will discuss how each of these areas contributed to the process which led to the concept and production of this exhibition.
Cuerpos Contacto is an exhibition that brings together works from the Museo Moderno’s own collection alongside those of contemporary artists invited to participate in a reflection on the body through works created from the 1970s up to today, taking into account different diversities, perspectives, identities and genders.