The rise of Latin American art.

Valeria Feliú, The Chilean flaming, 2022. Oil on canvas, 120 x 70 cm.

The contemporary reality, marked strongly by the growth of the population of "Latinos" in the United States, has resulted in a significant increase in attention to, and interest in, Latin American music genres, literature and art. Indeed, the artistic traditions of South America have become increasingly well-known and accessible, as they are frequently promoted and enhanced by cultural institutions and art museums around the world. Is it possible, however, that after many decades in which great "Latino" artists have created decisive works of art history, we are only now talking about the rise of Latin American cultural production? Certainly, South American art has been marginalized from the world art scene for many years, first for political reasons and, second, because the dominant art movements have mostly emerged in Europe and the United States.

Victor Manuel Ojeda Collado, Vector place series, 2020. Oil on canvas, 130 x 115 cm.

Antonio Spinosa, Orange ribbon with wooden base, 2020. Sculpture, metal on wood, 35 x 28 x 25 cm / 5.30 kg.

Latin American artistic identity

Latin America refers to the countries of South America that are distinguished by a national language derived from Latin and, in particular, Spanish, Portuguese, or French. Consequently, the term Latin America has its roots in the colonial era, during which these languages were introduced into the area by the respective European colonizers. Today, "Latin America" is considered by many scholars to be an imprecise and highly problematic word, as it prescribes a collective entity to a conglomerate of countries, which remain, however, very different from each other. That said, the common pasts of conquest, slavery and imperialism, including today's underdevelopment, environmental degradation, poverty and inequality, prove to be an undeniable unifying force, found even in works of art that highlight the existence of a collective experience. Nevertheless, it is anachronistic to speak of a Latin American art tradition before independence, so much so that pre-Columbian and colonial art are discussed on the basis of specific regions. On the other hand, with regard to the art of the 19th and 20th centuries, thanks to the emergence of Latin Americanism and Pan-Americanism, it is to be considered as a "unique whole." About the contemporary context, and in particular, within a now unified art world, "Latinos" demonstrate what it means to be a global artist.

Renato Ferrari, Fragment, 2017. Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm. 

Roni Kane, Surving love, 2021. Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm.

Latin American art against prejudice

It is well known how, the term "Western art" refers to that artistic production, which, dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, comes mainly from Europe and America, while, the term "non-Western art" refers to everything else. It is precisely this distinction that has plagued Latin American art, which, with the exception of pre-Columbian one, mostly falls under the category of Western art history. As a result, it has often been presented as a mere derivation of European or North American art, if not, indeed, treated as "other," i.e., something different from the better-known, valued and promoted artistic currents. In reality, however, "Latino" artists adopted, rather than imitated, "Western" influences, often demonstrating how in fact such forms of exchange were reciprocal, rather than one-sided. 

Dek, What's up uncle?, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, 136 x 146 cm. 

Danco, Allegory to Gustav Klimt I, 2020, Oil on linen canvas, 70 x 50 cm.

"Latino" artists in the contemporary art market.

Speaking instead of current events, it is good to highlight how, at long last, the uniqueness, and value, of the art of "Latinos" has been promoted, enhanced and recognized. In fact, the latter are more present than ever within the global art market, where they have encountered notable successes, such as, for example: the 2014 Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillip's auction sales in New York, which totaled $34,237,600, and the major auction sale of Latin American modern and contemporary art at Sotheby's in New York in May 2015, which raised some $13 million. Of course, it would be possible to add to the above many more examples that can give us the measure of today's popularity of "Latinos" works, which are unfailingly present in all major auction sales and major art fairs around the world. Therefore, if you are a collector, I urge you, referring to this data, to take a course in Spanish, Portuguese or French, as Latin American art has become a "must" that is breaking many records!

Elsa Muñoz, Meeting, 2020. Bronze sculpture, 31 x 19 x 10cm / 5.00 kg.

Ana Paula Luna, Abstraction of leg, 2020. Sculpture / ceramic, 27 x 20 x 11 cm / 3.00 kg.

Latin American Artists of Artmajeur

As anticipated, the link with the Western artistic tradition, but also the great tendency to innovation and "personalization" of the latter, has always distinguished Latin American art, which has often reinterpreted, giving it new life, the most important European and American trends, movements and artistic currents. The above can be seen in the work of some of Artmajeur's "Latino" artists, such as Reydel Espinosa Fernandez, Talu and Daniel Martínez.

Reydel Espinosa Fernandez, Abundance, 2018. Oil on canvas, 150 x 103 cm.

Reydel Espinosa Fernandez: Abundance

The oil painting Abundance, like more generally all the artistic production of Reydel Espinosa Fernandez, has been strongly influenced by Surrealism, an art movement born in the 1920s in Paris. In this context, opening a small parenthesis of art history, it is good to highlight how, South America offered Surrealism a great opportunity to reinvent itself, giving it a fantastic vision of the world that, in order to represent its reality, began to introduce different themes and languages. In fact, the surrealist proposals of the "Latinos" were also the starting point for cultural claims of national identity, within which we can mention the work of great masters, such as, for example María Izquierdo and Lola Álvarez Bravo. Returning to Artmajeur's artist, Reydel Espinosa Fernandez is a Cuban painter born in 1985, who has innovatively succeeded in enriching Surrealism with references to Bosch's work, through a re-enactment of medieval dreamlike metaphors filled with witches, alchemy, magic, bestiaries, thesauruses and hagiographies, which converge in his imaginary world.

Talu, ........ 2021). Spray / acrylic / marker / pigments / ink on canvas, 94 x 70 cm. 

Talu: ........

Talu's painting, on the other hand, highlights the influences that American Street art has exerted in the world of "Latinos," as it depicts a set of overlapping and intertwined tags and graffiti. In reality, however, the origins of the aforementioned art form are most likely South American. In fact, Mexican muralism was one of the art movements that, perhaps even unintentionally, influenced early U.S. "graffiti-artists." To find the origin of the possible connection between Mexican muralism and Street art, we must think of the seminars given by Mexican artists in art schools and universities in New York at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s. Precisely, during these classes, which mainly dealt with the use of form and color, the themes of social denunciation and generational protest later emulated by the writers were also popularized. About Artmajeur's artist, Talu, or Felipe Dos Santos Barbosa Morais, he is a Brazilian writer born in 1986, who began his journey in Street art in the early 2000s, as one of the pioneers of graffiti practice in the rural state of Rio de Janeiro. In this context, it is important to note that, taking an example from Mexican muralism, Talu's street art also aims to send an important message, aimed at promoting a kind of dialogue between the street, the artist and the people, in order to achieve mutual understanding.

Daniel Martínez, Stranges, 2021. Digital photograph on Linen Canvas, 60 x 90 cm.

Daniel Martínez: Stranges

Speaking instead of the world of Latin American photography, it has, for much of its history, often gone unnoticed in the face of Western media, curators and academia. Despite this, a thriving culture of documentary photography has flourished from Mexico to Argentina, so much so that, during the period of Latin America's most serious political turmoil, photographers have frequently questioned and denounced social conditions, challenging repressive regimes. In this charged context we can place the work of Daniel Martínez, an artist who photographs intimate slices of his era, narrated through portraiture and conceptual photography. Moreover, all his images offer the viewer a strong visual impact, often intensified by the contrast between black and white. However, in his work, defined as a unique and highly visionary interpretation of life, the influence, albeit reworked and personalized, of American and European artists, including, Andres Serrano, Jan Saudek and Irving Penn, has been determined.