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Barry James reported on Kenneth Kemble’s lecture of July 15, 1960, at the Society of British Artist of Buenos Aires: “Esquemas cambiantes sobre la apreciación del arte modern” [Changing Models on Modern Art Appreciation], in which the artist indicated a need for experimental art. To contextualize the aesthetic statements made by the artist, James made clear that Kemble’s work belonged to Informalism. James also ironically noted the accomplishments of Informalism, which according to him was the mere commerce of style.
Kenneth Kemble (Buenos Aires, 1923–1998) was one of the principal artists of the Informalist movement in Argentina. Beginning in 1956, he experimented with collages, assemblages, reliefs, and informal and sign painting. He participated in the exhibitions of the Asociación Arte Nuevo [New Art Association], a bastion of Abstraction. In 1959, he was part of the exhibition Movimiento Informal [Informalist Movement] at the Van Riel Gallery. In 1961, Kemble was the driving force behind the exhibition that presented arte destructivo [destructive art]. He practiced art criticism, mainly at the Buenos Aires Herald (a newspaper for the English community in the capital, founded in 1876) between 1960 and 1963. Afterwards, he continued his written reflections, with an emphasis on the Creative Process theory.This document shows the impact of the lecture presented by Kemble at the Society of British Artists of Buenos Aires on July 15, 1960. As a result, an invitation was extended to him to be a collaborator at the Buenos Aires Herald. (See documents 740974, 741204, and 741288, among others.)