An exhibition recovers an exceptional artist, Emilio Renart

The galery Of Infinity presents a cutting-edge exhibition in the local and international gallery market: offering the artist’s extensive archive for sale Emilio Renart (1925-1991). The sample “Constancy of the species”is the legacy of an artist who managed to make his work, barely known during his life, transcend his disappearance.

The intense curatorial work of Javier Villa respects the format of the file assembled by itself Renart and constitutes a novelty in art galleries. However, it is not surprising that Argentina takes the lead. Since 1993, when the Espigas Foundation was created, the country was a pioneer in the creation of archives.

Without having agreed (at least openly), the interest of the gallery coincides with that of the Fortabat Foundation which simultaneously presents “Alien. “Emilio Renart and his artistic and social practice”. The curator Sebastian Vidal Mackinsonafter three years of firm research and gathering an extensive number of works, opened last March the first retrospective exhibition of Renart in the rooms of the Amalita Collection.

These days, gallery owners Estela Gismero and his sonJulian Misrahiexplain the ambitious reasons that promoted the exhibition. “We seek to diversify and expand the practices of gallerism and local collecting, both private and institutional, offering necessary and invaluable materials to preserve our art history”. With this intention, both observe that, without breaking with the formality and protocol of the archives, curator Villa contributed an experimental facet. And they add that given the characteristics of the material, they dedicated extensive study time to it. In this way they reached unprecedented conclusions about the production of Renarta fact that is noted when touring the exhibition.

Those who knew the artist and attended his courses on “Introduction to Creativity”, add their interest in accessing the master’s secrets. The intense pedagogical work that the exhibition documents, completes the meaning of his works and enhances his figure. Renart He left an exciting example of survival, he created a model to overcome the fear of anonymity, to overcome the fear of not being remembered and of dying. “The constant of the species is the privileged use of creativity that every human being has to respond to fear”observed the artist.

But, strictly speaking, the question that floats in the air is: where was this remarkable archive that suddenly appears today? The answer comes from the gallery owners. “Viviana Pérez, an active participant in the assembly of the exhibition, had this material in her possession”. Now, and for the first time, 33 years after the death of Renart, Pérez will have found the conditions conducive to making known a treasure, intellectual, aesthetic and even mechanical genius. In Del Infinito they present some strange devices that he made to carry out his works and others are photographed.

Then, the neatness of the images, photos, negatives and contacts of the five “Integralism-Bio Cosmos” Made in the 60s, it mobilizes feelings. The greatness of these works, exhibited at the Di Tella Institute or at the São Paulo Biennial, did not prevent their sad end. They were mostly destroyed. The exhibition documents the firm determination to win a battle against destiny. Renart He used to say that he had nowhere to keep a Bio Cosmos and he handed that great facility over to a man who took it away in a garbage cart. Would he then be planning a way for his work to transcend?

Everything is possible. In both samples Renart He reveals himself as an immense artist. With incomparable mastery he left a work full of information that invites analysis. “We looked at his work again, to establish other hypotheses”points out Misrahi. The curator town It highlights that the main core of the archive consists of the images kept inside envelopes dated from 1958 to 1989, the year of its last exhibition.

Documenting the work was a rarity. Today, archival collecting is gaining more followers every day. It even arouses passions. But investigating the history of Argentine art in the 80s required a lot of work. The brochures, invitations, reviews, photos, posters, magazines and letters that circulate in the art world are easily lost. It is difficult to throw away a book, but few preserve minor documentation.

The Espigas Foundationcreated in 1993 by the collector and gallery owner Mauro Herlitzka with the support of the theorist and curator Marcelo Pacheco and the help of Marina Barón Supervielle, was a pioneer in Latin America. Her tenth anniversary was celebrated with a memorable show at Malba. There they presented the protagonists of the artistic scene: a painter (Guttero), a collector (Llobet), a critic (Rosemary Brest), three galleries (Witcomb, Pizarro, Bonino) and an institution (the Di Tella Institute), as well as magazines and posters. consulted Herlitzca about the current destiny of the Espiga Foundationyes, answer: “For 10 years it has had an agreement with UNSAM creating the Espigas Center that carries out conservation, cataloging and public access.”

The Buenos Aires exhibitions multiply and follow one another quickly, but the possibility of fully knowing the work of Emilio Renartit will hardly be repeated.