Iván Argote at MALBA

Until March 18, the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) presents the exhibition titled "Radical Tenderness" by Iván Argote. Poetic and sharp in equal measure, the artistic inquiries by Argote question interpersonal relationships polarized by contemporary political events, and the interaction of citizens with everyday language and national symbols. It is a site-specific project specially developed for the contemporary space located on the first underground level of the museum. All the pieces, created using several techniques like photography, drawing, and sculpture, establish a dialog in connection with the video titled La Plaza del Chafleo (Chafleo Square). "Chafleo" is a word and concept that Argote invented to describe different actions occurring in the public square, like: sharing, eating, talking, protesting, kissing, resting, and reading, among others. The video shows the public intervention by Argote to the Fountain of Poetry (created in honor of Lebanese poet Gibran Khalil Gibran). After finding it without water, covered in dust and garbage, Argote decided to fill it with fifteen thousand liters of water. About the intervention, he said, "I thought that letting a fountain of poetry go dry in a city of literature like Buenos Aires was not right. It struck me as a very strong symbol." Eight years later, the city government decided to reopen the flow of water. And this is how the fountain returned to working order after the artistic intervention. Argote's intention is to reflect on the appropriations and interventions that activate or deactivate public spaces. His discourse does not seek an overtly political perspective, but instead proposes giving a voice to children, migrants, and marginalized people. For this reason, the exhibition is taken out of the museum space with activities involving children but also the activation of spaces adjacent to the museum like Plaza Perú and the rest of the city, through the display of posters in public areas.