Alberto Delmonte

By J. M. Taverna Irigoyen

Member of the National Academy of Fine Arts. July,1996.

Whenever the influence of Torres García's Constructive Universalism on the development of River Plate art is properly researched, coordinates of associations and connections will emerge, that will surprise more than one scholar. Because, undoubtedly, this rich development that impregnates the work of many artists of opposing generations throughout the decades, is, in a humanistic sense, one of the most powerful aesthetic-experiential rationales that has emerged since the beginning of the 20th century.

Alberto. Delmonte rises from this constructivist influence, from contemporary Latin American trend, in which the symbol of man pulsates as an enigma, beyond its intrinsic potential. Master of a space shaped by lines and formal abstractions, by sensorially alert colors and enveloping foregrounds, Delmonte is a witness who gives testimony. He is a witness who bears testimony to a polyphonic and mineral America, hastened by endless symbols which are multiplied and projected perpetually by genealogies and civilizations. He bears witness to that self-same fantastic vitality, to that genuinely resolute nature, to that pluralistic hymn which, from the beginning of time, gives meaning to life and gathers together the originating forces.

Creator of free and very lively images, Delmonte transcribes his own discoveries and associations of that so familiar, yet mysterious, Universe. That universe encoded by forces and minimal occurrences of matter, lineal rites and pigmentary appropriations, subtle tensions and marvelous connections. underlying behind which is Reason, a mainstay of everything that is appealing and meaningful.

Delmonte is embarked on that river of “innumerables”. He is the creator of a song that is not restricted by principles. He is the heartbeat and the muscle of messages engraved on the surface, but which are buried deep in the sensitivity of the observer. His work, a style of painting conceived in the sensuality of its components, in the strict organization of foreground, is projected into the sphere of Argentine art with dignity and unquestionable significance.

This is precisely what allows his work to be accepted with pleasure. It contains neither cheap humor nor sudden leaps into space. Everything follows a certain order, in its formal eloquence, in its capacity for synthesis, in the coherence of its symbols. All of his universality of meaning becomes a tapestry interwoven by Delmonte, stripped of him-self, with joy, wisely unfolding it for us so that we can recreate it. Like the small Demiurge that he is. Like the great artist we recognize in all his height and magnitude.

Translation: Edward Shaw