a fascinating project to bridge the gap between the modernist movements and the contemporary art of Central America. Focusing on the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, these decades are a period of intense social and political transformation that influences each nation’s visual language and its artists… as well as the experimentation with new media, practices, and methods, which make it possible to understand the connections with the art currently being produced in the isthmus.
Modern art in Central American art shares much with the best of the modern art of Mexican and South America. But as this book – Central American Modernism / Modernismo en Centroamérica – makes clear, it is has a quality that is in many cases distinctly identifiable as Central American art, And among the Central American masters, there are distinct qualities that make each of them uniquely valuable.
Central American Modernism / Modernismo en Centroamérica is a bi-lingual beau-livre. It not only tells the story of how Modernism came to each country, it demonstrates – with hundreds of photographs – the magnitude of the talent that Central America contributed to Modernism.
Any celebration dedicated to Modernism ought to have Central America as a guest of honor. We are not talking an honorable mention or a consolation prize, but the seat next to the head of the table. That is the proposition served by the latest exhibition at Delray Beach’s Cornell Art Museum.
Running through July 28, “Central American Modernism” gives due credit to 34 artistic voices who introduced a bold visual language amid political turmoil, social unrest, underdevelopment, and financial disruption. Modernism was the weapon of choice for these master disruptors, who shook their respective homeland out of stagnation with new cultural possibilities. The show focuses on six countries: Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Mostly isolated from the international community, these small countries were slow to embrace Modernism. Once the movement took hold, each bred its own distinctive flavor and stars.
