Latin American & Caribbean art: MoMA at El Museo

Abstract

MoMA at El Museo: American and Caribbean from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art is, as the title suggests, an exhibition highlighting artworks selected from this major collection. But it is so much more: A collaborative effort between the two New York museums, this exhibition and accompanying catalogue present over 100 paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints, and illustrated books produced by artists from America and the Caribbean, selected from MoMA. Notably, it is this very collection that has created the paradigm of Latin American Art and has helped shape the ever-burgeoning art historical and cultural studies in this area, both in the United States and abroad. The curators' introductory texts provide analyses of the collection within the broader context of modern art in America; a history of the development of the collection focusing on major acquisitions, groundbreaking exhibitions, and influential curators and staff involved in the formation and study of the collection; and discuss the curatorial premises for MoMA at El Museo. Short essays follow on key works added in each phase of the collection's growth, examples of which include work by Diego Rivera, Jos Clemente Orozco, Antonio Berni, and David Alfaro Siqueiros in the 1930s; Joaquin Torres-Garcia, Matta, Roberto Berdecio, and Wifredo Lam in the 1940s; Rafael Montanez Ortiz, Jesus Raphael Soto, Marisol, and Fernando Botero in the 1960s; and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Los Carpinteros, and Vik Muniz today.