When it comes to the understanding of the 1990s Argentinean art, the Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas stands out as one of its cornerstones. Founded in 1984, it is a cultural extension of the Universidad de Buenos Aires in which various activities, such as courses, conferences, and movie cycles, etc. were developed. Some years after inception, the Galería del Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas was created in 1989 in the entrance hall to the campus, directed by artist and art critic Jorge Gumier-Maier. Magdalena Jitrik joined him shortly thereafter as an assistant. In 1997, Alfredo Londaibere himself assumed the leadership. What began as an underground space within the Buenos Aires artistic scene immediately developed great visibility between 1991 and 1992. The artists from “El Rojas” (Fabián Burgos, Graciela Hasper, Feliciano Centurión, Martín Di Girolamo, Alberto Goldestein, Sebastián Gordín, Miguel Harte, Agustín Inchausti, Luis Lindner, Nuna Magiante, Emiliano Miliyo, Esteban Pagés, Ariadna Pastorini, Marcelo Pombo, Cristina Schiavi, Enrique Marmora, Sergio Vila, Benito Laren, Omar Schiliro, and Alfredo Londaibere, Liliana Maresca, among many others) began to be incorporated into the programs of key exhibition spaces, such as the ICI (Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana), the Centro Cultural de España, and the Galería Ruth Benzacar.
The reference to poetics of the past, such as Pop art, minimalism, Concrete art (under extremely personal reformulations), besides elements of kitsch, have helped to characterize the resources of expression of such artists. Toward the end of the decade, the artists who made up “el grupo del Rojas” were grouped, in a generic manner, as the representatives of the “1990s Argentinean art.”
Please refer to Fabián Lebenglik’s note about this exhibition, published in the Página/12 daily on Tuesday June 11, 1991, titled “Una recorrida desde Ezcurra hasta Londaibere” [A Journey from Ezcurra to Londaibere] (record 769342).This document is relevant as an example of the “informality” that circulated in “El Rojas” since inception. The shows’ invitations / catalogues consisted of this type of low budget leaflet.