Antonio Berni : Juanito and Ramona /

Argentinian artist Antonio Berni had a long, artistically prolific career that began in the 1920s with a socially minded realism and working relationship with the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. But the focus of this book by Ramírez (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) and Pacheco (MALBA--Fundacion Costantini) is almost exclusively on Berni's production between 1956 and 1980. This exhibition catalogue presents works capturing the lives of two fictional characters typical of Buenos Aires: Juanito Laguna and Ramona Montiel. Both are archetypes of the dispossessed and of the marginalized working class. Juanito is the emblematic inhabitant of Argentine shantytowns, and Ramona represents prostitution and vice. Berni's work of this period (primarily) was assembled from the detritus of the everyday in order to create authentic expressions of these characters' real surroundings and conditions. Essays accompanying the generous illustrations address Berni's historical context in both Buenos Aires and Paris, where he worked. They also define the references, lives, and real situations that his emblematic characters invoke. Included in this volume are texts of the period and a comprehensive illustrated chronology of Berni's life. --Luis E. Carranza, Roger Williams University

Organized to accompany an exhibition, this book presents a comprehensive survey of the Juanito and Ramona series by Argentinean Antonio Berni in an attempt to bring this under-recognized artist to greater attention. The 270 sumptuous color reproductions provide a convincing testament to Berni's great talent in a variety of mediums ranging from painting and collage to assemblage, as well as the provoking social narratives he imagined for his characters: Juanito-a boy living in a Shantytown-and Ramona, a prostitute. The essays in this volume discuss Berni's relationship to realism and trends in European and American art, however, an overreliance on art jargon and repetitive discussions on realism and marginalized groups often results in unwieldy and overwrought texts. However, Michael Wellen's "Reaching New Jersey: Antonio Berni in the United States" presents a concise and lucid summary of Berni's relationship to America that comes as a relief after the other meandering attempts to interweave biography and theory. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.