Marta Minujín: "Soft Gallery". image copyright Marta Minujín

Marta Minujín (Argentina *1941)

Marta Minujín played a key role in the avant-garde of the 1960s and 70s in Argentina. In 1963, she staged her first joint happening in Paris, 'La Destrucción' in which she and fellow artists burned the sculptures they had made during their stay in Paris in an impressive action. Since then, she has performed numerous, large-scale happenings and actions, sometimes on various continents, and has broken new ground working with new telecommunications media. She uses soft, impermanent materials and focuses on the participation of the audience and the release of collective energy.

The video shown is part of the installation "Soft Gallery," which was recreated in 2007 and consists of 200 mattresses. Marta Minujín originally staged "Soft Gallery" in Washington, DC, in 1973. Several artists, such as Charlotte Moorman and Carolee Schneemann, took part in the original installation. The video is a montage of her most spectacular works done in urban spaces, such as "La torre de James Joyce en pan" (1980), "Carlos Gardel de fuego" (1981) and "El Partenon de libros" (1983).