AFRIKA (2018) Painting by Ana Candioti

Ana Candioti is a prominent Argentine-American visual artist, born in Buenos Aires on July 9, 1944. She is a portraitist, muralist, and researcher with a solid academic background, multiple awards, and international exhibitions, including public and private collections in museums and public institutions. Since 1975 to the present, she has been recognized as "the great master of social realism," focusing on depicting indigenous peoples and ethnic groups from the Americas and other regions of the world. Her work is considered "museum-worthy" for its faithful representation of human and cultural diversity, capturing people's essence through an approach that combines Art and Testimony. Argentine art critic Rafael Squirru highlights that Candioti inherits the mastery of Mexican muralists and Antonio Berni, recalling the Latin American origins of the pictorial movement her work is part of.

At the heart of Ana Candioti's artistic practice lies "Art and Testimony," a philosophy she describes as the creation of "a testimony of a reality that is hidden." The artist challenges the notion that ethnic groups are "dying out," instead asserting that there is an intentional effort to eliminate or assimilate them through various policies. Her art, therefore, serves as a powerful counter-narrative, aiming to "expose this hidden reality and recognize the existence of peasant, indigenous, or ethnic communities."

Candioti's methodology is deeply ethnographic. Her paintings are not products of imagination or mere reflections of observed reality; they are the direct result of extensive on-site research. She immerses herself in the daily life, traditions, and tasks of the communities she depicts, sharing their experiences firsthand. This "direct connection with the communities, investigating and bearing witness through photographs and oral stories, constitutes the core of her artistic practice."

This commitment is so profound that the artist emphasizes that her work "never ends after a single visit," leading her to return to these communities repeatedly. Her series are always left "open," signifying an ongoing engagement. This practice of leaving her series "always open" is not only a practical aspect of her creative process but also a powerful metaphor for the ongoing struggles faced by the communities she portrays. By keeping them open, Candioti acknowledges that the issues confronting these communities—cultural erasure, land rights, historical distortion—are not static problems but ongoing processes, highlighting the perpetual nature of the "testimony" she seeks to provide. 

• Nationality: ARGENTINA
• Date of birth : 1944
• Artistic domains: Works by professional artists,
• Groups: Professional Artist Contemporary Argentinian Artists