During the mid-twentieth century, Latin American artists working in several different cities radically altered the nature of modern art. Reimagining the relationship of art to its public, these artists granted the spectator a greater role than ever before in the realization of the artwork. The first book to explore this phenomenon on an international scale, Abstraction in Reverse traces the movement as it evolved across South America and parts of Europe. Alexander Alberro demonstrates that artists such as Tomás Maldonado, Jesus Soto, Julio Le Parc, and Lygia Clark, in breaking with the core tenets of the form of abstract art known as Concrete art, redefined the role of both the artist and the spectator. Instead of manufacturing autonomous artworks prior to the act of viewing, these artists presented a range of projects that required the spectator in order to be complete. Importantly, as Alberro shows, these artists set aside regionalist art in favor of a modernist approach that transcended the traditions of any nation-state. Along the way, the artists fundamentally altered the concept of the subject and of how art should address its audience, a revolutionary development with parallels in the greater art world.

Alfredo Jaar's immersive site-specific installation in the Chilean pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale, "Venezia Venezia" is a call to examine how today's culture, composed of increasingly complex global networks, can be adequately represented on a world stage.This publication features essays by 18 prominent, international authors from different fields of work and thought, including political and philosophical thinkers, critics, theorists, art historians and curators. Their contributions consider Venezia Venezia in its critical context, as well d recent global developments and the volatile conditions of contemporary art practice.

A new perspective on Latin American photography from 1960 to today, complete with arresting images and engaging texts

"Guayasamín is one of the last crusaders of imaginismo. He is a creator of humanity in its broadest sense, of the living and historical imagination. His universe is sustaining although it threatens us like a cosmic disaster. Think before approaching his painting because it will not be easy to withdraw."?Pablo Neruda "To paint is to pray. To paint is to scream."?Oswaldo Guayasamín In this breathtakingly beautiful book, excerpts from Pablo Neruda's Canto General are illustrated by Oswaldo Guayasamín's powerful work, bringing to life the battles, defeats, victories, and heroes of Latin America's history of resistance. After their paths first crossed in Mexico, the Chilean poet and indigenous Ecuadoran painter developed a lifelong friendship based on mutual admiration, profound affection, and political solidarity. With Spanish and English text throughout, this book by two of Latin America's most beloved artists is a captivating, reasonably priced book for the holidays. Pablo Neruda is one of Latin America's best-loved poets, his most famous work being Canto General. Born in Chile, and widely respected for his outspoken political views, he died days after the coup against the popularly elected Allende government in September 1973. Oswaldo Guayasamín is generally considered Diego Rivera's successor as Latin America's most prominent painter. Deemed an expressionist, with evident indigenous roots, the humanist spirit of Guayasamín´s work reflects the pain and misery endured by much of humanity during the last century, but at the same time conveys a sense of human dignity and great tenderness. He died in 1999.

Evoking the pleasures of music as well as food, the word sabor signifies a rich essence that makes our mouths water or makes our bodies want to move. American Sabor traces the substantial musical contributions of Latinas and Latinos in American popular music between World War II and the present in five vibrant centers of Latin@ musical production: New York, Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Francisco, and Miami. From Tito Puente’s mambo dance rhythms to the Spanglish rap of Mellow Man Ace, American Sabor focuses on musical styles that have developed largely in the United States—including jazz, rhythm and blues, rock, punk, hip hop, country, Tejano, and salsa—but also shows the many ways in which Latin@ musicians and styles connect US culture to the culture of the broader Americas. With side-by-side Spanish and English text, authors Marisol Berríos-Miranda, Shannon Dudley, and Michelle Habell-Pallán challenge the white and black racial framework that structures most narratives of popular music in the United States. They present the regional histories of Latin@ communities—including Chicanos, Tejanos, and Puerto Ricans—in distinctive detail, and highlight the shared experiences of immigration/migration, racial boundary crossing, contesting gender roles, youth innovation, and articulating an American experience through music. In celebrating the musical contributions of Latinos and Latinas, American Sabor illuminates a cultural legacy that enriches us all.

Cloth holds great importance for Guatemala's indigenous communities, and traditional dress plays an essential role in Maya identity today as a vital link with the ancestral past and a means of cultural reinvention. Whether worn for religious ceremonies or as an emblem of ethnic pride, textiles offer a medium for innovation and creative expression, as well as a marketable product for the tourist industry. Through a range of perspectives reflecting on Maya identity and the effects of global influences on culture and community life in Guatemala, Ancestry and Artistry traces a century of dynamic change as well as the remarkable continuity of ancient Maya traditions in the face of significant modernization, political upheaval, and religious transformation.

Argentinian figurative artist Antonio Berni (1905?1981) is known for his aesthetic originality and for art steeped in social commentary. In the 1950s, he inaugurated a series of works that documented the lives of two fictional characters, Juanito Laguna and Ramona Montiel. Through the stories of Juanito, a denizen of Argentina’s shantytowns, and Ramona, who rises from the working class to the upper echelons of society, Berni addressed topics from industrialization to neocolonialism to economic backwardness and their effects on the population of underdeveloped countries. Written by leading scholars of Latin American art, this handsome volume presents the first comprehensive survey of the internationally acclaimed Juanito and Ramona series. Richly illustrated with more than 250 color images, the volume brings together nearly two decades of Berni’s monumental, mixed-media reliefs and assemblages, experimental works on paper, and sculptural constructions made of found, everyday objects.