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, Josef Albers, Carlos Alonso, Julián Althabe, Joaquín Aras, Nicanor Aráoz, Carmelo Arden Quin, Sergio Avello, Roberto Aizenberg, Elba Bairon, Eduardo Basualdo, Carlota Beltrame, Carrie Bencardino, Antonio Berni, Martín Blaszko, Ricardo Blanco, Sofía Bohtlingk, José Antonio Bonet, Alejandro Bustillo, Juana Butler, Eduardo Alejandro Cabrejas, Osmar Bartolomé Cairola, Antonio Caro, Carmelo Carrá, Juan Carlos Castagnino, Pérez Celis, Elda Cerrato, Luis Centurión, María Luisa Colmenero, Eugenia Crenovich, María D’Avola, Flavia Da Rin, Jorge Daguerre, Juan Del Prete, Germaine Derbecq, Ernesto Deira, Sergio De Loof, Jorge De la Vega, Hugo Demarco, Noemí Di Benedetto, Juan Carlos Distéfano, Jorge Doujan, Thomas Downing, Ana Eckell, Martín Eisler, Clara Esborraz, Jorge Ferrari Hardoy, León Ferrari, Fanny Fingermann, Rubén Fontana, Luis Frangella, Ana Gallardo, Arnoldo Gaite, Ricardo Garabito, Carlos García Bes, Rodrigo García Bes, Santiago García Sáenz, Nicolás García Uriburu, Noemí Gerstein, Edgardo Giménez, Tomás Gonda, Guillermo González Ruiz, Silvio Grichener, Alberto Greco, Silvia Gurfein, Graciela Hasper, Alberto Heredia, Alfredo Hlito, Enio Iommi, César Jannello, Eduardo Joselevich, Kenneth Kemble, Hugo Kogan, Juan Kurchan, Alejandro Kuropatwa, Guillermo Kuitca, Fernanda Laguna, Julio Le Parc, Reinaldo Leiro, Noé León, Valentina Liernur, Alfredo Londaibere, Hermann Loos, Raúl Lozza, Eduardo Mac Entyre, Víctor Magariños, Tomás Maldonado, Hilda Mans, Federico Martino, María Martorell, Liliana Maresca, Alcides Martínez Portillo, Juan Melé, Trinidad Metz Brea, Estanislao Mijalichen, Marta Minujín, Roberto Nápoli, Eduardo Painceira, Margarita Paksa, Luis Pazos, Martha Peluffo, Sandro Pereira, Emilio Pettoruti, Anselmo Piccoli, Tiziana Pierri, La Chola Poblete, Rogelio Polesello, Alfredo Prior, Lincoln Alfredo Presno Hargain, Dalila Puzzovio, Alejandro Puente, Valentina Quintero, Emilio Renart, Juan Carlos Romero, Rubén Santantonín, Cristina Schiavi, Antonio Seguí, Eduardo Serón, Aldo Sessa, Carlos Silva, Juan Stoppani, Pablo Suárez, Amanda Tejo Viviani, Juan Tessi, Luis Tomasello, Silvia Torras, Leila Tschopp, Georges Vantongerloo, Gregorio Vardánega, Miguel Ángel Vidal, Sesostris Vitullo, Luis Alberto Wells, Judi Werthein, Amancio Williams, Wolanow Cecilia María and 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