Juan Melé

Juan Nicolás Melé (born October 15, 1923 – March 29, 2012) was an Argentine sculptor, painter, and art critic. Melé was a member of the Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención as well as co-founder of the Grupo Arte Nuevo.

Early life and education Melé was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In 1935, at 11 years old Melé began to study drawing and painting under the guidance of artist Enrique Rodríguez. In 1938, Melé attended the Escuela de Bellas Artes Manuel Belgrano where he studied until 1945. During his time at the Escuela de Bellas Artes Manuel Belgrano he befriended fellow artists Gregorio Vardánega and Tomás Maldonado. In 1945, upon graduating from the Escuela de Bellas Artes Manuel Belgrano Melé began teaching art at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón in Buenos Aires. Melé participated in the group's third exhibition organized in October 1946 at the Argentinian Society of Plastic Arts. In 1953 Melé participated in the II Bienal de São Pablo as well as the XII Salón de Arte Mar del Plata and the Salón Anual de la Provincia de Corrientes (Argentina)where he was awarded third prize.

In 1961, Melé traveled to the United States where he stayed until his return to Buenos Aires in 1971. Melé returned to the United States in 1974 and settled in New York City where he held several exhibitions. Melé returned to Buenos Aires in 1986.

Beginning in 1990, Melé lived between Buenos Aires and Paris. Melé was awarded the Alberto J. Trabucco award by the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1997.

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions 1976: Clovelly Lane Gallery (New York) 1978: Cayman Gallery (New York) 1979: Clovelly Lane Gallery (New York) 1982: Museo de Artes Plásticas Eduardo Sívori (Buenos Aires) 1983: Arch Gallery (New York) 1985: Arch Gallery (New York) 1987: Museo de Arte Moderno (Buenos Aires) 1995: Una investigación constructivo en los '90, Centro Cultural Borges (Buenos Aires) 1983: Galerie Slotine (Paris) 1983: Juan Melé, hoy. 60 años después, Salas Nacionales de Exposición, Palais de Glace (Buenos Aires) 2006: Galería Van Eyck (Buenos Aires) 2009: Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Latinoamericano La Plata (Buenos Aires)

Group exhibitions 1953: São Paulo Art Biennial / II Bienal Internacional de Arte de São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil) 1989–90: Art in Latin America. The Modern Era, 1820– 1980, The Hayward Gallery (London); Nationalmuseum / Moderna Museet (Stockholm); Palacio de Velázquez (Madrid) 1990: Argentina. Arte Concreto Invención 1945, Grupo Madí 1946, Rachel Adler Gallery (New York) 1991: Arte Concreto Invención, Grupo Madí, Naus für konstruktive und konkrete Kunst (Zurich) 1992–93: Artistas latinoamericanos del sigle XX, Estación Plaza de Armas (Seville); Musée national d'art moderne, Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou (Paris); Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle (Cologne); The Museum of Modern Art (New York) 1994–95: Art from Argentina 1920– 1994, Museum of Modern Art (Oxford)[Traveling exhibition] 1997: I Bienal de Artes Visuais do Mercosur (Porto Alegre) 2001: Abstract Art from Rio de la Plata, Buenos Aires and Montevideo, 1933– 1953, The Americas Society (New York) 2002: Madí, L'art sud-américain, Musée de Grenoble (Grenoble) 2003–04: Arte abstracto argentino, Galleria d'arte moderna e contemporanea (Bergamo); Fundación Proa (Buenos Aires) 2006: The Sites of Latin American Abstraction. Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (Miami, Florida) [Traveling exhibition] 2007: Geometry of Hope. Latin American Abstract Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection. Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas Austin (Austin, Texas); Grey Art Gallery, New York University (New York) 2009: Expansionismo. Contemporary Latin American Artists Explore Space, The Museum of Geometric and MADI Art (Dallas, Texas) 2010: Géométrie hors limites. Art contemporain Latino-américain dans la collection Jean et Colette Cherqui, Maison de l'Amérique (Paris) 2010: Constructive spirit. Abstract art in South and North America, 1920's-50s, Newark Museum (Newark);Amon Carter Museum (Fort Worth, Texas) 2010: Vibración. Moderne Kunst aus Lateinamerika. The Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection Bundeskunsthalle (Bonn, Germany)

Selected works (1946) Homenaje a Mondrian at Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Buenos Aires (1946) Pintura n° 42 at Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Buenos Aires (1955) Planos y direcciones at Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Buenos Aires (1955)