October 24, 2019-January 12, 2020

From 1957, when AMA’s founding director José Gómez Sicre acquired several Abularach pieces for its collection, the artist has been prominently interwoven within the institution’s history, as well as those of Guatemalan and Latin American art in a broader sense. This exhibition is an opportunity to gather one of the larger samplings of Abularach’s works representing 60 years of his output. This showcases not only the artist’s impact on the direction of art of the hemisphere in the 1950s-1970s, but the role that AMA has played in its development.

In 1962, Abularach received an OAS scholarship to study at the Pratt Art Graphic Center in New York. In the following years, his work consolidated and began to exhibit systematically in the United States and Latin America, primarily. The years he lived in the United States (he settled down again in Guatemala in 1998), which were paramount in his training and in the international promotion of his work, gave rise to a group of artworks that made him an internationally renowned artist. His development of the 1950s-1970s resulted in the acquisition of a broad representation of his artworks by museums in the United States. This exhibition allows for further study of the impact that the work of the AMA had for Guatemalan art during this time period. The invaluable documents of the AMA offer a glimpse into the historiography of Guatemalan art.

The AMA serves as the principal instrument of cultural diplomacy of the OAS. AMA’s mission is founded on the notion that the arts are transformative for individuals and communities. This guiding principle promotes the core values of the OAS by providing a space for cultural expression, creativity, innovation, dialog, and learning, while highlighting themes such as democracy, development, human rights, justice, freedom of expression, and innovation. AMA’s work draws on contemporary art to showcase a constructive vision of the future of the Americas via local and hemispheric cultural exchange.

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