Buenos Aires 10 de octubre de 2014 — Primera exposición de Antonio Berni (Rosario, 1905 – Buenos Aires, 1981) que presenta en forma exhaustiva sus célebres series de Juanito Laguna y Ramona Montiel e incluye a los Monstruos de sus pesadillas.
Producida en forma conjunta por MALBA y el Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) –como parte del acuerdo de colaboración que ambas instituciones mantienen desde 2005–, la muestra reúne un conjunto de 150 obras (pinturas bidimensionales, grabados, xilocollages y xilocollage-relieves, ensamblajes y construcciones polimatéricas), creadas entre 1958 y 1978, cedidas por la familia del artista y por veinticinco colecciones públicas y privadas de Argentina, Uruguay, Estados Unidos, España y Bélgica.
For the first time in our country, virtually unknown pieces are being exhibited, such as the collection of works from Belgium, consisting of large assemblages such as Ramona bebé (1962), La apoteosis de Ramona (1971), and La familia de Juanito emigrated (1972). Also on display are emblematic monumental works such as El mundo prometido a Juanito Laguna (1962) —one of the great masterpieces of this period, from the collection of the Argentine Foreign Ministry— Juanito aprende a leer (1961) and Pesadilla de los injustos (1961) —both from the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires; Juanito lleva la comida a su padre peón metalúrgico (1961) from the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires; Juanito va a la ciudad (1963) from the MFAH collection; La gran tentación (1962) from the MALBA collection; and La pampa torments (1963), among others.
Also noteworthy is the set of five engravings on Juanito Laguna —on loan from the Castagnino+macro Museum collection in Rosario—which Berni first presented in 1962 at the Venice Biennale and for which he won the Grand Prize for engraving and drawing.
Antonio Berni: Juanito and Ramona attempts to place Berni in his international context, highlighting the diversity of his output, the result of a constant quest to expand the central concerns of postwar artistic movements.
