Alberto Heredia

biography

Alberto Heredia (1924-2000) was an Argentine sculptor who, even though he had a brief connection with abstract art, has always been a figurative artist that navigated through various bodies of work, making a thoughtful study of the human condition, the suffering, and the consumer society, among other topics, using every day and disused objects for his creations.

When, at age 21, he began his studies at the National School of Ceramics and later in the workshops of the Manuel Belgrano National School of Fine Arts, he developed an expressionist image and the use of various materials and techniques combined were recurring elements in this period.

Carried away by his curious spirit, he was interested in Rimbaud, Jean-Paul Satre, and Albert Camus, linking himself with the existentialist philosophy and inspired by the work of international artists who he knew, partly thanks to the workshops dictated by Jorge Romero Brest. These events brought him closer to the art world, where he finally met the group Arte Concreto Invención and establishes an intimate relationship with sculptors Enio Iommi and Claudio Girola. As a consequence, since 1948 he moves away from the figurative and expressionist style and leans towards abstraction, destroying almost all his previous work.

In 1960 he made it took place his first solo show at the Galatea Gallery and presented works at the First International Modern Art Exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires. He settled in Europe, first in Madrid, where he linked up with informal artists such as Saura, Chillida and Millares, among others. Through them, he understood his need to pour feelings of fury, passion, and drama into the works, something that is perceived in many drawings, collages, and sculptures of those years.

He moved to Amsterdam and finally to Paris, where he reaffirmed his friendship with Alberto Greco, an Argentine artist. Thanks to him, he connects with other forms of artistic manifestations and he even participated in Greco’s first Vivo-Dito actions. Both are part of the Pablo Curatella Manes exhibition and thirty artists of the new generation at the Creuze Gallery.

He then develops an extensive body of work among which are his Cajas Objetos, Engendros, the series of Los embalajes, Las Lenguas and Los Amordazamientos.. He understood men as tormented beings and in this productions, he manifests his fury and contained violence.

In December 1974, Heredia received a letter from the AAA (Argentine Anti-Communist Action) condemning him to death if he did not leave Argentina. He moved to Uruguay, where he lived for a time between Montevideo and Punta del Este.

In 1975, he melted the in some previous bronze works of figurative style, such as the Heads of the Philosopher or his series of castles. He presents the series of Melba Cups in the exhibition honoring Marcel Duchamp at the Arte Nuevo Gallery.

In 1981 he received a Special Mention Award from the Henry Moore Prize, at the Hakone Open-Air Museum in Tokyo, and in 1998 the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires organized his great retrospective exhibition, the last of which he is part. He died in April 2000.