Bonevardi: Chasing Shadows, Constructing Art

Marcelo Bonevardi (1929-1994) was one of the most innovative artists of his generation. A native of Argentina, Bonevardi spent the greater part of his career in New York City, where he absorbed avant-garde practices and influences such as abstraction and primitivism, using them to invent a pictorial and symbolic language with which to express his deep spirituality and affinity for myth and ritual. Bonevardi is best known for his shaped canvases, which combine elements of painting and sculpture, reflecting his early training and lifelong interest in architecture. During his lifetime, Bonevardi received many honors, including the International Prize at the X Bienal de Saõ Paulo, first prize in the "Ten Argentine Artists at the United Nations" permanent installation, and the Platinum Prize from the Konex Foundation. Bonevardi's work has been collected by many leading North American and Latin American museums, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City; the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Museo de Arte Moderno in Buenos Aires; the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Universidade in Saõ Paulo; and the Museo Rufino Tamayo in Mexico City.

This lavishly illustrated volume presents the first comprehensive overview of the life and work of Marcelo Bonevardi. Noted art historian Dore Ashton provides a biographical and critical essay that traces Bonevardi's artistic development and situates him in the New York art scene of the 1960s and 1970s. Ashton illuminates the diverse influences that helped shape Bonevardi's art, as well as his contribution to important trends in North American and Latin American abstraction. Ronald Christ's in-depth essay draws on extensive interviews with the artist and reviews of his work to offer a focused analysis of the unique themes and techniques that constitute Bonevardi's signature style. Accompanying the essays and chronologies of the artist's life and exhibitions is a catalogue of over three hundred images, most in full color, that comprise a stunning visual summation of Marcelo Bonevardi's oeuvre.

GUSTAVO BONEVARDI, the son of Marcelo Bonevardi, and JOHN BENNETT have worked together since 1996. Though trained as architects, they have done computer animation, graphic design, and public sculpture, as well as architecture. Their work has won various awards. As artists, Bonevardi and Bennett formed part of the team that conceived and executed “Tribute In Light,” the memorial of light commemorating the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. They live in New York City.

DORE ASHTON is an internationally acclaimed art critic, author, and teacher. She has written and edited numerous books, including The New York School: A Cultural Reckoning, About Rothko, A Fable of Modern Art, A Joseph Cornell Album, Picasso on Art, A Critical Study of Philip Guston, Noguchi East and West, and A Reading of Modern Art. She lives in New York City and East Hampton.

RONALD CHRIST is Professor Emeritus of English at Rutgers University and a noted authority on Latin American art and culture. He has edited and translated many books, including works by Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Vargas Llosa, Manuel Puig, and Diamela Eltit. He won the Kayden National Translation Prize for his translation of Eltit’s “E. Luminata.” He is cofounder of Lumen Books and the president of PEN New Mexico.