Temporada fulgor
Photo Studio Luisita
11.04.21— 03.14.22
Gallery 1, Level -1
Malba opens "Temporada fulgor", displaying the legacy of Photo Studio Luisita founded by the Colombian sisters Luisa Escarria (Cali, 1929 - Buenos Aires, 2019) and Chela Escarria (Cali, 1930), who visualised the history of the revue and popular culture in Buenos Aires.
The photos in the exhibit focus on the 1960s and the 1970s and illustrate how revue theater, a phenomenon in Argentine popular culture, has reflected the political, economic, social and cultural changes the country went through. At the same time the photos show the personal take and effect of mass distribution the sisters managed to generate in and with their studio.
Curated by Sofia Dourron in collaboration with Sol Miraglia, who heads the Photo Studio Luisita, the exhibit shows a selection of photos produced between 1964 and 1980 in which show spectacle is intertwined with the domesticity of the Escarrias’ home-studio on Corrientes Avenue. Iconic vedettes such as Ethel and Gogó Rojo, Mimí and Norma Pons, Nélida Lobato, Nélida Roca, Susana Giménez, Moria Casán, Marrone, Olmedo y Porcel have been portrayed.
The exhibit includes negatives, slides, collages and documents that shine a light on the process behind the creation of these photographs: from the original shot in the photo studio to the retouched end product on the poster, flyer or program handout. From the beginning till the end, entirely the work of the two sisters. Luisa with her gaze and Chela mastering the montage.
“The patriarchy of the revue spectacle merges with the familiarity of the matriarchy in the photo studio, the feathers and glitters with the domesticity of Luisita, the massive image reproduction with Luisa’s unique observation, body politics with Chela’s playful processes, and the showlights with the austerity of the space on Corrientes Avenue where the sisters’ decorative style created its own spectacle.”, explains the curator.
Curator: Sofía Dourron.
In context
Founded by Luisa Escarria and her sister Chela, under the wings of their mother Eva, the photo studio is key in re-reading the history of the revue and it’s showgirls, which dominated the stages on Corrientes Avenue since the 1920’s.
Such as Annemarie Heinrich and Olga Massa before her, Luisa Escarria has been responsible for the visual legacy of vedettes, comedians, musicians and artists, who lived and gave light to the city of Buenos Aires and form a part of the city’s culture and collective identity.
The attentiveness with which the photographers captured the smallest of gestures, such as a near invisible twinkle in the eyes, or the unfolding of a choreographed body movement, created images which turned the starlets into icons: Nélida Roca submerged in a boa of red feathers, Norma and Mimi Pons with their cloud-like blond hairdos or Ether and Gogo painted in gold from top to bottom on the legendary Maipo stage.
In short: the exhibit shows the world of the revue from the 1960s and 1970s, a turning point in our culture, which has been wonderfully captured and preserved by the Escarria sisters.
All the objects found in the archive show us the world beyond and behind the glamour and the glitter; the studio with the dogs and the birds, the peachy curtains with a glimpse of light shining through, the fans, the plants, the chairs… the original slides with annotations on the side. They tell a story within the story.
Photo Studio Luisita
Photo Studio Luisita was founded by Luisa Escarria (Cali, Colombia, 1929 - Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2019) and her younger sister Chela (Cali, 1930), following the footsteps of their parents. Luisa was the photographer and Chela did the manual editing and coloring in the laboratory.
The women of the Escarria family emigrated from Colombia in 1958, following the era of ‘Violencia’ and, upon arriving in Argentina, installed themselves in the mythical apartment on Corrientes Avenue, which served as both their home and their studio - up until 2009.
Luisita and Chela did the photography for the theatre screens and the programs at the Maipo Theatre. Between 1958 and 2007 they registered, above the buzzing stages of the theatres, in the quiet intimacy of their studio-home, tens of thousands of photos of actresses, actors, dancers, musicians, comedians and others that are part of popular Argentinean culture. Nélida Lobato, the sisters Pons, Amelia Vargas, Moria Casán, Susana Giménez, Susana Traverso, René Lavand, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Pepe Marrone and Juanita Martínez are among the hundreds of celebrities that can be found in the archive with more than 40.000 images.
Gallery
Related Activities
Martes 18 de enero a las 18:00
Sábado 12 de marzo a las 18:30
Visita guiada y brindis
Cierre de Las metamorfosis y Temporada fulgor
Se invita a una visita guiada de la mano de Mólione Barraza y Diego Trerotola, que recorrerán la exhibición Las Metamorfosis acompañadxs por los curadores Gonzalo Aguilar y Samuel Titan Jr. El recorrido finalizará en la sala de Temporada Fulgor, donde se servirá un pequeño refrigerio en homenaje a Luisa Escarria.
Catálogo
Temporada fulgor
El libro reproduce el archivo fotográfico en exhibición junto con una importante selección de textos. Además del ensayo curatorial, en el que la investigadora Sofía Dourron repasa la vida y legado artístico de Luisa y Chela Escarria, la publicación incluye como presentación un texto de María Amalia García, curadora en jefe de Malba, y una entrevista de Josefina Barcia a Sol Miraglia.
Viernes 11 de marzo a las 18:00. Sala 1
Conferencia
Antes y después del Despiplume
Los vestigios de un mundo de glamour que ya no existe, registrado en todo su esplendor por Foto Estudio Luisita, permiten reconstruir ese hábitat poblado de fantasía a través de anécdotas brindadas desde el punto de vista personal de un pintor.
Por Alberto Passolini
Viernes 11 de marzo a las 18:00. Sala 1
Participan: Katia Iaros, Pochy Grey y Susana Rubio
Viernes 4 de marzo a las 18:00. Biblioteca
Mesa redonda
Historia oral del Teatro de Revista
Las hermanas Escarria, en los reducidos metros cuadrados de su casa-estudio de la Av. Corrientes, lograron perpetuar en sus fotografías el brillo del Teatro de Revista.
Mesa redonda online
Fotógrafas mujeres en Latinoamérica
En el marco de las exhibiciones de dos grandes fotógrafas ("Las metamorfosis" de Madalena Schwartz y "Temporada fulgor" de Luisa Escarria), se propone un encuentro en el que se reflexionará en torno a las relaciones entre fotografía y mirada femenina.
Participan: Agustina Triquell, Alejandra Uslenghi, Sofía Dourron y Samuel Titan Jr.
Martes 18 de enero a las 18:00