The artists of the 50s are those who opened the gates of Contemporary Art, are the ones to abandon academic laws towards a tendency for abstraction and the first to defend and promote the new language. 

View of the exhibition at the MAMBA

In the 60s those differences become deeper, opening a broader passage from modern to contemporary. 

Integralismo Bio-Cosmos N° 1, by Emilio Renart (1962)

Technique: object emerging from canvas  / Measures: 230 x 300 x 90 cm - MAMBA

The number of artists on the exhibition is very important, and the quality, outstanding.  One of them is Enio Iommi (Rosario, 1926-San Justo, 2013), who unfortunately died a little time ago. He was a ground-breaker as few others: the MNBA has some of his works.

Planos expuestos, by Enio Iommi (1959)

Technique: inox steel / Measures: 71.5 x 42 x 8.5 cm

The other big exhibition is nowadays taking place at the Ca‘ Corner della Regina, palazzo belonging to the Fondazione Prada on the Grand Canal in Venice. Under the name "When Attitudes Become Forms", the exhibit is a replica of a previous one that took place in Bern in 1969 and that is remembered as a turning point in the History of Art. The statement? A concept can be art. 

View of the Kunsthalle in 1969, with works by Mario Merz, Robert Morris, Barry Flanagan and Bruce Nauman

The exhibition is on display exactly as it was back in 1969, with the same works in the exact same location as at the Kunsthalle. The palazzo, where Prada usually showcases her collections, has been reformed to bring down walls and place old heaters, to recreate Berna's salons as truly as possible. 

Vista de la sala en Venecia 2013

Seventy artists to see, such as Carl Andre, Mario Merz, Sol LeWitt and Richard Serra, among others. The show captured the aura of the time and served as conversation of what was about to happen.  Today, while visiting it, a strange feeling of time-gone-by arises. However, many of the works on display are similar to things we see today too. Suddenly, a jewel by Joseph Beuys calls for attention...

Ja, ja, ja, ja, ja, nee, nee, nee, nee, nee 
[Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, no, no, no, no, no], recorder and tape with the voices of  Joseph Beuys, Henning Christiansen and Johannes Stuttgen (1968).

 Fondazione Prada - Venice 2013

Joseph Beuys (Germant, 1921-1986), sculptor, performing artist and professor, was an innovador and   bitter enemy of the old tradicional school, and wanted his works to move away from art galleries and museums. With critical thinking, based on a philosophical origin, in the work above he taped monotonous and obsessive noises, as mantras. A never-ending monologue of yes, yes, yes, no, no, no, imitating the answers we usually give on family gatherings (according to Beuys),  applied to everything and nothing. An ironic portrayal of our daily dialect of nonsense.

These two exhibits are a delight to those art lovers who were unable to visit them, or were not even born when they left laid the first stone of Contemporary Art.