The location of the art fair, La Rural, is an expansive center used for hosting a variety of community events throughout the year. One of my students works for arteBA and had been working on preparations for the fair throughout the entire year. She was kind enough to give me two tickets to the fair earlier this week. Unfortunately the person I had invited told me the day before that they were unable to make it which, generally speaking, is often the case here in Buenos Aires, so I wasn't gravely disappointed.
However I also did not regret having to go alone. I often find artwork to be very meditative and, while I do enjoy talking about art with others, I find it just as enjoyable to walk freely through the artwork, stop at the pieces I wish to see, and pass over the pieces of little interest to me.
In many ways this exhibit reminded me very much of the Noche de Los Museos, except there was much more artwork in a single place. All the art was contemporary and the artists ranged from masters to up-and-coming artists, the artwork covered a wide range as well. All of the artists either reside in Argentina or are Argentine expats living abroad, and the artwork this year is meant to represent how art crosses physical and geographical barriers, without regard for country borders and boundaries.
The enclosure itself was much larger than I had expected. My student had brought a map to one of our classes and we went over the details of the layout, giving directions, and recommendations, but I have to admit it looked much smaller on paper. I browsed the artwork for more than three hours, but there was such a wide range that it seemed to take half that time.
On my way out I glimpsed a familiar face and realized it was my friend Kristina from the TEFL course. It had been nearly four months since we'd seen each other last so it was a wonderful surprise to see her and catch up. In all I think the fair was very well done and here are a few pics to give you a sense of what the fair was like.
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| The entrance to the arteBA fair. On the left is the entrance to a design fair. |
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| Who's watching through the windows? |
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| I spy a Mate gourd! |
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| A good perspective of the size of the place. |
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| A map of the arteBA |
For more on the annual art fair, check out this article from the Argentine Independent.
As a final addendum, while examining one of my English textbooks I found an enjoyable and satirical little quote on the evolution of through the ages. I wish all English textbooks had this sense of humor.
From IELTS Masterclass p.45
How to appreciate art
"Appreciating art is very easy once you understand art history. Art started with two-dimensional cave paintings. Then came two-dimensional church paintings. In the renaissance, artists got perspective and started painting jugs. The Enlightenment brought us well-lit jugs with a side order of fruit. Romoantic art depicted the landscape cave dwellers would have seen if they'd looked out, had perspective and understood lighting.
Art then became what artists saw inside them, rather than outside. Impressionism was the world seen through a couple of glasses of vin rouge. Expressionism was impressionism after the whole bottle. Vorticism was when the room started spinning, and modern conceptual art is the throwing up stage."
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