Background
Ferrari was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on September 3, 1920. He was the son of Susana Celia del Pardo and Augusto César Ferrari, a well-known painter from San Possidonio, Italy.
2011
León Ferrari pictured on July 24, 2011.
Viamonte 430, C1053 CABA, Argentina
León Ferrari graduated from the University of Buenos Aires in 1947.
León Ferrari at work.
León Ferrari creating his sculpture.
León Ferrari in his studio.
León Ferrari posing in front of his artwork.
León Ferrari presenting his paintings.
León Ferrari surrounded by his works.
León Ferrari with his work.
León Ferrari working outside.
Profile portrait.
(A critique of the Vietnam War and American imperial polit...)
A critique of the Vietnam War and American imperial politics, the book weaves together hundreds of excerpts from newspapers, periodicals, works of history, the Bible, and other sources.
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1967
Ferrari was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on September 3, 1920. He was the son of Susana Celia del Pardo and Augusto César Ferrari, a well-known painter from San Possidonio, Italy.
León Ferrari graduated from the University of Buenos Aires in 1947, receiving a degree in Engineering.
At the beginning of his artistic career, Ferrari worked for his father constructing and painting churches. He started working with ceramics when his family moved to Rome, living there from 1953 to 1955. There he fell in love with working in clay and ceramic forms and started to create large ceramic sculptures.
León Ferrari had his first solo exhibitions in Milan and in Rome and began his association with other artists such as Lucio Fontana, Renato Marino and Meli. The artist was invited by Lucio Fontana to participate in the 1954 X Triennale.
He returned to Buenos Aires in 1955 and decided to diversify his sculpting practices by involving into new artistic creations in plaster, cement, and wood, as well as wire from the 1960s. It was not until 1962 that León Ferrari produced his first works on paper. Ferrari continued to have one-man exhibits in Argentina and to raise criticism from the church and newspapers through his sarcastic political and religious artworks, such as The Impregnating Tree. It was the first work which openly criticized Christianity. Ferrari also wrote plenty of articles for left-leaning newspaper Página 12.
In general, his work from the late 1950s to the end of the 1960s resonated with aesthetic influences from the avant-garde movements of that era: from Lettrism, Situationism, and Fluxus, to New Realism and Pop Art. Nevertheless, although Ferrari's works had similar features with that of his contemporaries, he never pledged allegiance to any particular group.
Ferrari's emblematic composition Western Christian Civilization, which he executed in 1965, depicting Christ being crucified on the wings of an American bomber used in Vietnam, was censored of its unveiling.
León Ferrari received his international acclaim after his politically induced self-exile to Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1976. Trying to flee the Argentine dictatorship, Ferrari left his native country for 15 years. During this period of time, Ferrari began exploring new artistic practices, including mail art, lithography, photocopying, and even artist books, allowing a democratized access to art.
After his return to Buenos Aires in 1991, Ferrari focused on political works. For instance, he painted such artwork as La Justicia (1991), which was a commentary on the judicial system in Argentina using a hen defecating on a pair of scales. Ferarri’s exhibition of Infiernos e Idolatrias (Hells and Idolatries), held at the Latin American Institute of Co-operation in 2000, protested against human and divine tortures. This became an impetus for Catholic groups to send tear gas grenades into the building.
In 2004 the artist had a retrospective at the Recoleta Cultural Centre, which was denounced by Archbishop Bergoglio, being called "blasphemous", and was closed down. But later it was reopened by the authorities. In 2009 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City presented his works in a major exhibition with artist Mira Schendel, called Tangled Alphabets. Ferrari's artworks were also exhibited at the Rencontres d'Arles Festival, in Arles, France. Later, León Ferrari exhibited at the Rencontres d'Arles in 2010, and at the Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires (MALBA) in Buenos Aires in 2012.
(A critique of the Vietnam War and American imperial polit...)
1967Letter to a General
unknown title
People
Spiral
Spectators
Crossing
Untitled
Homenaje a las víctimas de la tortura
Planet
Untitled
Board
Written painting
We Did Not Know
Noah's Ark
Paths
Untitled
Roundabout I
Untitled
Eva y Ella
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
León Ferrari was raised in a Catholic environment.
León Ferrari was closely connected with politics. He has spent his whole life struggling with dictatorships, fascism, discrimination, social inequality, and collusion of the Church.
Quotations:
"Art is not beauty or novelty, art is effectiveness and disruption."
"I draw silent handwritten words, which tell things, with lines that recall voices. And I write drawings that recite memories that words cannot say."
León Ferrari was married to Alicia Barros Castro, with whom he had three sons. His youngest son Ariel was murdered in 1977.