Momentum: Art & Ecology in Contemporary Latin America

Duke University Press, 2025, Softcover, 304 pages, 14.6 x 21 cm

Momentum: Art and Ecology in Contemporary Latin America is a guide to understanding the relationships between art and ecology, focusing on the unique contributions of Latin America, presented through the perspectives of artists, art historians, curators, and intellectuals. The culmination of three years of research produced through conferences, and research seminars conducted by the Cisneros Institute at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, this anthology underscores the significance of artistic practices that engage with the natural environment in Latin America. The book includes discussions of how artists imagine innovative relationships with the non-human; how they reflect critically on land disputes and colonial legacies; and how they envision the future—with new commissioned texts on key artists that pioneered an ecological approach from the sixties onward, including Cecilia Vicuña, the artists connected to the Centro de Arte y Comunicación (CAYC), Frans Krajcberg, and Juan Downey, along with essays on a number of contemporary artists and collectives from across the region. The book also includes reprints of texts by anthropologists, indigenous activists, and architects, which help frame the artistic contributions within a larger cultural and political discussion. Distributed on behalf of the Museum of Modern Art. Contributors. Jens Andermann, Lisa Blackmore, María del Carmen Carrión, Carla Macchiavello Cornejo, Jose Falconi, Arnaud Gerspacher, Julieta Gonzalez, Inés Katzenstein, Miguel A. López, Helena Chavez Macgregor, Camila Marambio, Joanna Page, Mara Polgovsky, Patricio del Real, Victor Manuel Rodríguez-Sarmiento, Irene V. Small, Patricio del Real, Graciela Speranza, Madeline Murphy Turner, Patricia Vieria, Carla Acevedo Yates