Constructed Dialogues: Concrete, Geometric, and Kinetic Art from the Latin American Art Collection September 15, 2012–January 6, 2013
Héctor Ragni, Paisaje constructivo de Montevideo (Constructive Landscape of Montevideo), 1935, oil on canvas, the MFAH, gift of ArteBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina, with additional funds provided by the Latin Maecenas.
![Lygia Clark, Bicho (Máquina) [Critter (Machine)], 1962, gilded metal with hinges, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund. © Associação Cultural Lygia Clark](https://static.mfah.com/images/clark-bicho-maquina.10111148247866070008.jpg?width=1350){kind=link}
Lygia Clark, Bicho (Máquina) [Critter (Machine)], 1962, gilded metal with hinges, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund. © Associação Cultural Lygia Clark
Julio Alpuy, Construcción con hombre rojo (Construction with Red Man), 1945, painted wood, the MFAH, gift of Roy and Mary Cullen, Roy W. Cullen, Melinda J. Cullen, Robert L. Cullen, Meredith T. Cullen, and Dana and Hana Harper in memory of Katherine “Susie” Cullen. © 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / AGADU, Uruguay
Gyula Kosice, Círculos lumínicos y línea de agua móvil (Luminescent Circles and Line of Moving Water), 1968, Plexiglas, light, water pump, and Formica, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund. © Gyula Kosice
Joaquín Torres-García, Composición abstracta tubular (Abstract Tubular Composition), 1937, tempera on board marouflé, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,Mmuseum purchase with funds provided by the Alice Pratt Brown Museum Fund. © Alejandra, Aurelio, and Claudio Torres
Hélio Oiticica, Relevo espacial (Spatial relief), c. 1960, paint on cut-out wood, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Foundation. © César and Claudio Oiticica
Hélio Oiticica, Vermelho cortando o branco (Red Going through White), 1958, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund. © César and Claudio Oiticica
Gego (Gertrud Goldschmidt), Reticulárea, 1975, stainless steel wire, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of AT&T. © Fundación Gego
Over the last decade, the MFAH has developed one of the strongest collections of Abstract Constructive art from Latin America. This exhibition, drawn from the museum's Latin American art collection, highlights several key avant-garde movements engaged in the production of Concrete, Geometric, and Kinetic art. The presentation outlines the different paths taken by pioneers such as Lygia Clark, Leon Ferrari, Gego, Hélio Oiticica, and Joaquín Torres-Garcia.
Constructed Dialogues brings together recent MFAH acquisitions, works from the Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art, and selections from the museum’s extensive Gego holdings. The exhibition contextualizes key aspects of the MFAH collection and reveals the correspondences between several different artistic projects of the 20th century.
This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Generous funding is provided by:
