In Spanish. Artist’s book produced during Ferrari’s period of exile in Sao Paulo, before his return to Argentina in 1991. Black and white line drawings of increasing complexity, framed by the dictionary definitions of “hombre” and “mujer” at the book’s beginning and “fin” at its end.
Ferrari’s work drew increasing religious censorship and political persecution during the 1960s and ’70s, which escalated until he was forced to flee to Brazil, where he remained for a decade and a half. A resolutely political conceptual artist, Ferrari continued to produce work in a variety of media during his years of exile: sculpture, heliography, drawings and art books, of which this is a notable example.
Well after his return to Argentina, in 2004, Ferrari’s work was again the target of violent protests and censorship, as well as furious religious condemnation from the Archbishop of Buenos Aires — now better known as Pope Francis. A retrospective exhibit included Ferrari’s most famous single work, 1965’s “La Civilización Occidental y Cristiana” (Western Christian Civilization),” a 6-foot sculpture of Jesus Christ crucified on an American fighter jet, and provoked an outraged pastoral letter: then-Archbishop Bergoglio demanded the ‘blasphemous’ exhibit’s closure, and a judge obligingly shut it down (the decision was later reversed). Ferrari dismissed the future Pope’s objections in style, as “a type of favor that Bergoglio did for me.” Throughout his long career, Ferrari held to the principles articulated in his 1968 manifesto: “Art is not beauty or novelty, art is effectiveness and disruption.” Scarce. OCLC locates eight scattered holdings, with just six in the US.
