Versions and Inversions: Perspectives on Avant-Garde Art in Latin America (Elgar New Horizons in Business Analytics series)

In 2004, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presented Inverted Utopias, a critically acclaimed exhibition focusing on the development of avant-garde art in Latin America from 1920 to 1970. At the time of the exhibition, a major symposium was held at the museum. This handsome book brings together texts and commentary by leading art historians and critics who participated in the event. A wide range of topics is covered, including the avant-garde in America and Europe, Argentine art in the 1960s, Latin American Conceptualism, and Brazilian art trends of the 1950s. Beautiful and important works by such various artists as Gego, Lygia Clark, Mia Schendel, and Eva Hesse are featured, and a CD-Rom of the exhibition accompanies the book. As an outgrowth of and complement to Inverted Utopias, this book expands the framework for understanding the complex contributions of Latin American artists to 20th-century art.

Hector Olea is an independent scholar and curator specializing in Latin American modern art. Mari Carmen Ramirez is the Wortham Curator of Latin American Art and director of the International Center for the Arts of the Americas at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.