Upholding the need to theorize his practice—Joaquín Torres García once again explains the basis of his Constructivist art; in his view, all artists should engage in permanent reflection. This text is primarily aimed at pointing out the confusion that tends to arise among supporters of “social realism” regarding “the popular” in art.

On the basis of his ideas of art as “truth” and the artist’s work as “religion,” Joaquín Torres García (JTG) insists on the archaic roots of Constructivism based on universal laws, on laws that structure the space of a cosmic metaphysics. In his view, art is “popular” insofar as ethically rooted in human work that appeals to three essential elements: thought (reason), emotion (soul), and perception (body). In that sense, he says, there is nothing more “popular” than the idea of the “integral man” whose essence implies spirit in Unity, which suggests that an individual is inseparable from the idea of the “universal man.” Any other “individualist” or “materialist” conception of “the popular” fails, as in the view of JTG, to heed the question of art. Art is “concrete,” then, insofar as it refers to itself as new reality rather than as an attempt to represent nature. If based on an idea, art becomes an “abstract” fact unlike all other things. JTG therefore attempts—in his unique way—to counter social realism linked to political ideology; he advocates an ideology of art, rather than “the art of an ideology.” For that reason, he supports an art “outside of time,” an art anchored in a general, universal, eternal order that entails as well a “new alphabet” to reaffirm its ontological autonomy. [For further reading, see the following texts by Joaquín Torres García in the ICAA digital archive: “Con respecto a una futura creación literaria” (doc. no. 730292); “Lección 132. El hombre americano y el arte de América” (doc. no. 832022); “Mi opinión sobre la exposición de artistas norteamericanos: contribución” (doc. no. 833512); “Nuestro problema de arte en América: lección VI del ciclo de conferencias dictado en la Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de Montevideo” (doc. no. 731106); “Introducción [en] Universalismo Constructivo” (doc. no. 1242032); “Sentido de lo moderno [en Universalismo Constructivo]” (doc. no. 1242015); “Bases y fundamentos del arte constructivo” (doc. no. 1242058); and “Manifiesto 2, Constructivo 100%” (doc. no. 1250878)].