Moderno y Metamoderno: Edición 70 Aniversario [Moderno and Metamoderno: 70th Anniversary Edition] is an ambitious exhibition of the museum’s collection displayed over three large rooms on the First Floor, allowing visitors to appreciate the history and scope of the largest public collection of modern and contemporary Argentinian art in the country. Featuring more than 300 works selected from a collection of over 8,000 pieces, the exhibition offers a diverse and comprehensive overview of Argentinian art movements while reflecting the research, exhibition and publication processes that have established the Museo Moderno as a leading-edge institution.
As part of the museum’s 2026 focus on the relationships between art, design, nature, architecture and urbanism, Moderno y MetaModerno incorporates a selection of emblematic pieces from the museum’s Argentinian design collection. Design has been part of the Museo Moderno’s curatorial programme since the 1970s, recognising it as essential to Argentina’s material culture and the projection of new ideas of modernity. The Moderno’s important design collection was established during the directorship of Laura Buccellato, with significant assistance from renowned Argentinian designer Ricardo Blanco as curator.
MetaModerno unfolds as a ‘meta-exhibition’ where each work on display is transformed into a portal that opens by scanning a QR code, leading the viewer to an extensive digital archive, constructed over the past decade, that documents past exhibitions at the Moderno and the research, publications and press articles that accompanied them. It is an affirmation that art is indeed an important vehicle for knowledge.
The assembled works reflect the history of the formation of this public collection, from the pioneering acquisitions of the first directors Rafael Squirru and Hugo Parpagnoli, the Ignacio Pirovano Collection and the legacy of the artist Alberto Heredia, to the more than 700 acquisitions and donations obtained under Moderno’s current administration. The participation of various actors from civil society has been key throughout the process, including: artists and their families, galleries, patrons and the Acquisitions Committee, the Asociación Amigos del Moderno [Friends of the Moderno Association] and the Buenos Aires City Government itself. Thanks to all this crucial support, the Museo Moderno continues to write a more accurate, inclusive, pluralistic history of Argentinian art.
Artists and designers:
Susi Aczel, Carmelo Arden Quin, Sergio Avello, Eduardo Basualdo, Elba Bairon, Carrie Bencardino, Antonio Berni, Ricardo Blanco, Colette Boccara, Sofía Bohtlingk, Alejandro Bustillo, Juan Cavallero, Luis Centurión, Elda Cerrato, María Colmenero, Eugenia Crenovich, Flavia Da Rin, Marina De Caro, Sergio De Loof, Germaine Derbecq, Juan Carlos Distéfano, Martín Eisler, León Ferrari, Rubén Fontana, Luis Frangella, Ana Gallardo, Carlos Luis García Bes, Nicolás García Uriburu, Noemí Gerstein, Edgardo Giménez, Guillermo González Ruiz, Alberto Greco, Alberto Heredia, Lido Iacopetti, Ennio Iommi, César Janello, Kenneth Kemble, Hugo Kogan, Guillermo Kuitca, Fernanda Laguna, Julio Le Parc, Reynaldo Leiro, Alfredo Londaibere, Raúl Lozza, Eduardo Mac Entyre, Víctor Magariños, Liliana Maresca, Tomás Maldonado, María Martorell, Trinidad Metz Brea, Marta Minujín, Roberto Nápoli, Margarita Paksa, Aldo Paparella, Luis Pazos, Sandro Pereira, Emilio Pettoruti, Alejandro Puente, Tiziana Pierri, Rogelio Polesello, Dalila Puzzovio, Valentina Quintero, Emilio Renart, Juan Carlos Romero, Rubén Santantonin, Cristina Schiavi, Carlos Silva, Oscar Smoje, Juan Stoppani, Pablo Suárez, Juan Tessi, Luis Tomasello, Leila Tschopp, Georges Vantongerloo, Gregorio Vardánega, Sesostris Vitullo, Luis Alberto Wells, Xul Solar y Guido Yannitto.
Curated by: Victoria Noorthoorn, Director of the Museo Moderno, in coordination with the Moderno’s curatorial team, including the notable participation of: Patricio Orellana, Head of the Curatorial Department; Franco Chimento, Curator of Argentinian Design; Pino Monkes, Head of Conservation, and Valeria Semilla, Head of Collections