Alberto Greco

Alberto Greco (January 15 1931 – October 12 1965) was an Argentine artist who was instrumental in the development of conceptual art in Argentina, Brazil, and Spain. His best-known artwork is a series called Vivo Dito in which Greco draws attention to objects and people as living art pieces within everyday life.

Biography Alberto Greco was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1931. He was part of a family of five; his older brother, Jorge Julio, was eight years his senior, and his brother Edgardo was younger than him by four years. His mother was Ana Victoria Disolina Ferraris and his father was Francisco José. Greco never married nor did he leave traces of a significant other in his life despite having friends. This allowed him to focus on his artistic pursuits and travel extensively. Alberto Greco was a student of Tomás Maldonado and attended many workshops put on by Cecilia Marcouch. Informalism is creating artwork or signs, then giving them meaning afterward. Greco once wrote a manifesto on a scroll and strung it around the town, calling it "Gran Manifiesto- Rollo Arte Vivo Dito". He would also draw circles on the ground and sign his name outside the circle. Some accounts suggest that Greco once drew a circle around a man during his Vivo Dito project, symbolically trapping him within the artwork. Greco often compared a finished project to a dead object; when something dies you do not go to its grave and dig it up to change its appearance or add to it, you simply let it rest, as you should to your artwork. Barbiturates are a type of antidepressant prescribed for sleeping disorders. This type of drug is meant to repress the activity of the central nervous system reducing anxiety, but impairing memory and judgment at the same time. The purpose of this was to illustrate to the world that he was one of the best informalist artists in the world. Greco emphasized the importance of big gestures and overdramatized performances; in his mind, that was the only way to convey his ideas. Greco's final actions have been interpreted as an attempt to convey his artistic vision in an impactful way. Before committing suicide, Greco called his family to let them know this was happening and invited them to watch; his family declined the offer. While dying, Greco wrote down all of the feelings he was experiencing while on barbiturates. Before losing feeling in his body he wrote the word "Fin" on his left hand; fin meaning "end".