The world of the Visual Arts...

Carrie Bencardino II...

Artist Carrie Bencardino painted an armchair she called El Mal (Evil), and she invites us to see, as with the Lamp, what lies behind this object.

With this and most of her works, Bencardino intends to delve into the spectral life of objects and emanate a certain darkness from them. Let's not forget the distortion that accompanies her work, which, according to the artist, is her way of seeing the world. To achieve this effect, she drags the pigment "out of focus" with a rag soaked in turpentine. The result: to remove the dullness of the static. This is how this armchair evokes a strangeness, as if it existed in a world of obsessions or were simply part of the nightmarish residue that remains when we wake up.

El Mal, by Carrie Bencardino

MALBA Museum

9:54 a.m.
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Carrie Bencardino I...

Temporary Exhibitions

The unspoken laws of touring art exhibitions dictate that you should start on the left and walk clockwise through the entire gallery, then move on to the next. Currently, visitors walk past the works on the right, the left, and, if they're not interested in what they see, through the center of the gallery. Sometimes a work is so compelling that we skip over the rest of the exhibition, focusing only on what caught our attention.

Lamp, by Carrie Bencardino (2025)

Technique: oil on canvas

Carrie Bencardino (Buenos Aires, 1993) is exhibiting for the first time at the MALBA Museum in Buenos Aires. Just like researcher and artist Lucas Disalvo, the work that caught all my attention, and the one I went to see up close, ignoring the rest, was Lamp. Let's try to put into words why this "lamp" caught our eye.

In my case, it was the use of color and texture. I see velvet and the incongruity of that material reminds me of surrealist artists. I see green, the color of nature in all its splendor. Is it perhaps a message from an activist for the care of the planet? (The more electricity we consume, the fewer natural resources we have). I see an object from the early 20th or 19th century, and there I agree with Lucas Disalvo, who related this painting, by its color and shape, to the absinthe or wormwood consumed by the decadentists. Why? Because of the green color and the lack of clarity in the workmanship, just like the blurred vision of the drinker, a certain dullness.

Ultimately, the painting conveys something that transcends the canvas and sends messages to whoever sees it. Bravo, Carrie!

8:06 p.m.
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Hajime Sorayama...

21st Century

For four decades, Japanese artist and illustrator Hajime Sorayama has been working on works that blur the boundaries between realism and fantasy, flesh and metal, and the human and the nonhuman. It all began in 1980 when, in the wake of the Star Wars phenomenon, a Japanese whiskey company commissioned a robotic pin-up girl, a female version of C-3PO. This character was so successful that it defined Hajime Sorayama's destiny.

Untitled (Sin Título), by Hajime Sorayama

Materials: aacrylic, digital print on canvas.

While he excels at drawing, his installations are beyond admirable, as demonstrated in his latest exhibition. In addition to his illustrations, he is currently presenting a series of hybrid figures at the Museum of Sex in Miami (USA), blending classical art with pop culture, making references to Western and Eastern culture, as well as to the abject nature of the past and present, ultimately combining them with the real and the virtual. The result: robots, future companions for all those who dare.

Sexy Robot Floating, de Hajime Sorayama (2019)

Materials: acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin, urethane resines, silver plating, LED neon light, Steel (4 pieces) / Measures: 106.3 x 40.55 x 40.55 cada una

Four Original Editions: AP 1, 2, 3 and 4

6:36 p.m.
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A forgotten artist...

Tapestries

Joan Wall was born in Württemberg, Germany, in 1923 and from a young age she became interested in the art of tapestry, participating in workshops not only to create her own tapestries but also to teach other artists the mysteries of this technique. In the 1970s, she settled in Buenos Aires to continue working with threads and passing on her knowledge in her own workshop until her death, in 2010. Although working with threads and wool was considered a feminine task until very recently, Joan overcame all prejudices to leave behind a body of work that is fascinating both for its combination of techniques and materials.

Untitled, by Joan Wall

Tapestry with natural fibers

Untitled, by Joan Wall

Tapestry with natural fibers

Apparently, she created alone, combining and weaving surrounded by fibers in all shades of earth tones. Her work emerges with a sense of indigenous culture, but at the same time, it appears futuristic, as if she favors our surroundings to nature.

Despite being a tireless worker and creating numerous pieces, she never received the recognition she deserved, until now, when she was a star at the last ArteBA.

8:50 a.m.
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