Clorindo Testa was born in Italy and lived in Argentina, where he designed audacious buildings with a strong visual presence. He was an architect and artist, and actively participated in the cultural scene of the twentieth century. In Pintura o Circulo negro (1963), Testa painted a black sphere on a square canvas. The circle is loose, not a precise geometric figure, and it does not respond to the dogmas of Concrete Art. Two halos rendered in shades of grey surround this black nucleus, imparting a sense of lightness to the figure, as if it were levitating above a white surface. Two vertical segments, however, fix it to the background. The pictorial layer is dense in the black core and Testa took advantage of this thickness, making incisions, scraping, moving his hand quickly. This gestural graphism displays his characteristic freedom or humour. Testa was a three-time recipient of Argentina’s prestigious Konex Award. Pintura o Circulo negro was previously exhibited at the Biennale Arte in 1964.
—Florencia Malbran
