Nueva Figuración

By the 1950s, informalist and geometric abstraction had gained prominence throughout Latin America. However, various artists felt that these styles lacked relevance for what was actually happening in society. They wanted to incorporate a more expressive style and recapture the figure in their works. They did not want to go back to the social and political figuration that was practiced in the 1930s and 1940s, but rather focus on more subjective experience. These artists were concerned with the way individuals interacted with society, and Neofiguration was a way for artists to meaningfully engage with the politics and culture within their respective countries. In Mexico, Venezuela, and Argentina, Neofiguration referenced previous themes found in abstraction, such as the informal use of line and color, but also including the human figure. In Colombia, Neofiguration was developed more out of the academic tradition, as seen in Fernando Botero. ==Argentina==

Political Backdrop The political situation in Argentina played an important role in the emergence of the Neofiguration movement among Argentine artists. The political turmoil in Argentina began with a military coup d’état which ousted President Juan Perón from office in October 1955. In 1958, Arturo Frondizi won the presidential elections with a clear majority of the votes. However, Frondizi soon backed out of promises made during the election, and a wave of violent strikes ensued, prompting the new president to impose a state of siege. By 1959, the country was in serious national debt, accrued primarily due to the poor management of state enterprises. In October 1959, Péron supporters planned a massive demonstration that was expected to turn violent. The police and military seized firearms and explosives in a series of raids, and they arrested hundreds of Perón supporters who protested in the streets. These raids and arrests were all legal under the state of siege. Otra Figuración Members Nueva Figuración is often associated directly with a group of Argentine artists who formed Otra Figuración in 1961. They included Jorge de la Vega, Luis Felipe Noé, Rómulo Macció, and Ernesto Deira. Other Argentine artists associated with Nueva Figuración include Antonio Segui. Otra Figuración wanted to reclaim the figure in their work as a way to engage with the tumultuous political situation. Luis Felipe Noé, considered the intellectual leader of the group, was the quickest to adopt a more expressionistic style of painting. In 1959, he opened his first solo exhibition in the midst of Argentina's political unrest, and his works were already being noted for their “semi-figurative language.” Noé also employed collage and a diverse range of mediums in his paintings. An example of this is Thundering Jupiter from 1960, in which he threw, scraped, and splattered oil paint, enamel, shoe polish, furniture polish and floor wax. Noé specifically noted de la Vega for his “darker… more textured” style which was “executed with free, lyrical gestures.” Ernesto Deira was the last to be introduced to Noé by Macció in 1960. Deira was a lawyer who had also studied painting and came to the group already a strong figural artist. In expressing a common commitment to the expressionistic use of the figure, Deira became the fourth member of Otra Figuración. Deira's style was significantly influenced by Francisco Goya’s Black Paintings, but with freer brushwork. These four artists worked together under the name Otra Figuración from 1961 to 1965, based in an old hat factory which was given to Noé by his father and served as a studio space. Exhibitions and Impact Otra Figuración exhibited several times together between 1961 and 1965. Their first group exhibition, simply titled Otra Figuración, was held in Buenos Aires in 1961 and was well-received, yet also recognized as innovative and new. Over their years together, the group won various prizes and participated in international exhibitions in Paris, New York, and several other cities across the United States. They received some criticism for their ground-breaking development of Neofiguration and their rejection of established art norms, but they generally maintained institutional support. Their joint work is noted for its radical and spontaneous nature, and the group for their intense commitment to demonstrating expressive freedom and addressing Argentina's most pressing issues. The group continued to work together until disbanding in 1965, at which time the political situation was becoming increasingly repressive and the country continued to be plagued by a series of military dictatorships and unrest. ==Mexico==

Emergence in Mexico Neofiguration emerged in Mexico at the same time it was being practiced by Otra Figuración in Argentina. However, the Neofiguration movement in Mexico was pursued by artists as a reaction against Mexican Muralism, which was seen as too nationalistic and politically motivated. The first significant push away from muralism was captured before the 1950s in Rufino Tamayo’s cubist-style works. This encouraged many younger artists to also step away from the muralism tradition, which had at this point become the institutionalized art form of Mexico. José Luis Cuevas, the first artist to take up a neofigurative style in Mexico, was also reacting against the predominance of muralism. However, he was not inspired to follow the same path as Tamayo. Rather, Cuevas related more meaningfully to Jose Orozco’s style of painting and his existential use of the human figure. Some members of this group included Leonel Góngora (Colombian but based in Mexico), painter Francisco Corzas, and photographer Ignacio “Nacho” López. The artists of Nueva Presencia shared Cuevas’ commitment to anti-aesthetic art. They adopted an expressionistic and informal style as they called for a common rejection of abstraction. Furthermore, they denounced art that was motivated by a specific political agenda. However, Nueva Presencia differed from Cuevas in that they were committed to the idea that artists needed to be socially responsible in addressing the pressing issues of the day. Whereas Cuevas acted as an observer in political and social spheres, the artists of Nueva Presencia felt obligated to participate in society, demanding an “art which does not separate man as an individual from man as an integral part of society. No one, especially the artist, has a right to be indifferent to the social order.” Mentored by Rufino Tamayo, who praised her exceptional use of color, Ruiz de Velasco became one of the youngest female artists to exhibit solo at Mexico's Museo de Arte Moderno in 1988. Her highly stylized, almost abstract representations of performers and dancers continue the neofigurative exploration of the human form established by earlier Mexican neofigurative artists. ==Venezuela==

In Venezuela, Jacobo Borges and Roberto Obregón also embraced Neofiguration. In 1958, the military regime that had ruled Venezuela for 10 years was replaced by a democratic government. The new government caused widespread frustration, as its socialist tendencies angered the right, while its opposition to Castroites angered the left, including Borges. In response, Borges began to work in an expressionistic style and took up a form of Neofiguration that was more overtly political than the works of his Mexican and Argentine counterparts. Borges had direct contact with Mexican artists who were a part of Nueva Figuración, and he participated in an exhibition in 1959 with younger Mexican artists at the Palacio Nacional de Bellas Artes. His work is characterized by vibrant colors which highlight his critique of the Venezuelan bourgeoisie. Borges efforts in the Neofigurative style culminated in 1963–1965, a period which produced some of his best known works. ==Colombia==

In Colombia, prominent artists to embrace figurative painting include Fernando Botero and Débora Arango. These artists, along with Pedro Alcántara, employed the figure as a means to challenge political oppression. The Colombian Neofigurative artists pursued this style as a means to respond to the horrors of La Violencia. Though tensions between the conservatives and liberals began in 1946, the beginning of La Violencia is often marked by the assassination of politician Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in 1948. This civil war in Colombia was a bitter and violent struggle that caused widespread death and devastation among the people of Colombia and the society at large. Neofiguration in Colombia had its roots in late cubism rather than geometric abstraction, as in Mexico and Argentina. ==References==