Marie Orensanz

Mari Nalte Orensanz (born 12 September 1936) is an Argentine artist. Her artwork examines the integration of thought and matter as a methodology to obtain a social consciousness. Orensanz's experience of Argentina's "Dirty War" has influenced her artwork and translated itself into the work Pensar es un Hecho Revolucionario (Thinking is a Revolutionary Act). Located in the Parque de la Memoria in Bueno Aires, it is attributed as a monument for the victims of state terrorism.

Orensanz has been credited as a pioneer of conceptual art in Argentina and her experimentation with geometry, mathematics and philosophy later developed into her use of different materials. She is recognized for her use of the Carrara marble, ultimately displacing the canvas. The Carrara marble encapsulates the development of her manifesto "Fragmentism", which accounts for the singular embrace of the incomplete. She began her art education training with contemporary artists in Argentina, Emilio Pettoruti and Antonio Segui, where she learned about analytic abstraction and figurative expressionism respectively. Her experience working with them was foundational in the way that she constructs space in creating her works. In 1972, Orensanz moves to Milan for a period of time, where she finds a new material that becomes the highlight of her artistic trajectory, the Carrara marble.

Eventually, she becomes a naturalized French citizen and currently alternates her stay between Mountrouge, France and Buenos Aires, Argentina. as she travels back and forth from her birth country of Argentina and Europe, which served as a refuge during Argentina's last military dictatorship that lasted from 1974 to 1983. Orensanz's work Pensar es un hecho revolucionario was selected among 633 projects to commemorate the disappeared individuals of Argentina. This piece is formed from two equal iron parts that are separated from one another by a small distance. According to Orensanz, this intentional separation forces the spectator to reflect in order to appropriately read the perforated phrase that is the title. In a catalogue, she expresses that now of the motives for her dedication is the fight against injustice translated through artistic expression.

Orensanz discovered the political potential in her work through her installation El pueblo de la Gallareta. She had created the installation in response to a workers' rally that took place and included their pamphlet on the gallery walls. Only a day after the opening of her exhibition the show was cancelled as the government noticed the message depicted through her work. Dots, arrows, broken cars and fallen trees are each given a precise meaning. Each bell consists of phrase that serves as an answer to the question posed by the title of installation, such as "for those who doubt" or "for those who judge". It is in this way that Oresanz is able to create a dialogue concerning the injustices present in society. Igualdad (2013), an installation five meters high made out of rusted steel and located at the university de San Martin in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The installation is an enlarged pencil compass that outlines the title of the work at the apex.

Thought and matter According to Christine Frèrot, Marie Orensanz explores different ways to integrate thought and matter, questioning both the world and society simultaneously. Later on she developed a theory called Fragmentism and writes a manifesto in Spanish, English and Italian. It reads, "Fragmentism searches for integration of a part with a totality; transforms by multiple readings in an object non-terminate and unlimited, traversing time and space."

Public works 2019 « invisible » monumental, permanent installation. Art Basel Miami - Diana Wechsler & Florencia Battiti - Procurement Jorge Perez - 3m height - Curten 2019« tenemos el poder de elegir » monumental, permanent installation Bienalsur - Diana Wechsler & Anibal Jozami, Tucuman, Argentina - 5m height - Curten 2019 "invisible" Private Coleccion in Martinez - 3m height - Curten 2018 « invisible » monumental, permanent installation. Bienalsur Diana Wechsler & Anibal Jozami - Procurement Crans-Montana, Switzerland - 3m height - Curten 2017 « mas alla del tiempo » permanent installation. Bienalsur Diana Wechsler & Anibal Jozami Buenos Aires, Argentina 2017 "el ambiente condiciona a la gente" ” 1srt premio Julio le Parc The Related Group - Jorge Perez Carlos & Rosso, Buenos Aires - 4m height - Curten 2015 « libertad » permanent installation Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Neuquèn, Argentina 2012 1srt Premio, monumental “el poder creativo comunica a todos”, Campus de la Universidad 3 de febrero, Bs As 2012 “igualdad” para el Campus Universidad San Martin, Bs As. Monumental “tenemos el poder de elegir” Isla del Descanso, Tigre, Argentina 2011 Commissioned by the Universidad San Martín de Buenos Aires for a monumental sculpture, Igualdad, 5-meter-high stainless-steel compass, on the campus, inauguration in 2012. 2010 Selected with the work “las raices son femeninas” for Azucena Villaflor Memorial and the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, monumental sculpture, 3 meters high in the Plaza of Human Rights, located in Diagonal Pueyrredon and Belgrano, Mar del Plata, Argentina. 2001 Selected by the Concurso Puerto Madero and the Fundación ArteBA, with the installation "Para quién?... suenan las campanas", for the Bulevar Azucena Villaflor, Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1999 Selected with the work "Pensar es un hecho revolucionario", for the "Parque de la Memoria", Buenos Aires, Argentina 1991 Monumental sculpture, Lycée Blanc-Mesnil, Paris, France (architects: Paul Chemetov and Borja Huidobro), selected by the Conseil Régional de Franche-Comté for a monumental project. 1985 Project for "Zoo des Robots", La Villette, Musée National des Sciences, des Techniques et des Industries, Paris, France

Video works 2004 "Esperando una nueva primavera" 2000 "Los dominantes" 2000 "Las hojas de la vida" 2000 "A través del tiempo todo cambia, nada cambia" 2000 "Querer…poder…hacer…girar nuestro propio mundo" 1' without end 1999 "Camino de artista" 5' 1980 "Límites", video projection at ARC, Paris, France, February 1979 "Límites" 8'