Untitled from Puro Teatro (Pure Theater)
Untitled from Puro Teatro (Pure Theater) is part of a series of renderings of celebrated theaters and opera houses. Rather than the stage however, Kuitca depicts the space of the audience as if viewed by the performers. Irregular squares and rectangles in black ink depict such things as seats, balconies, and doors. Devoid of people and details, the geometric structures are uncanny, function almost as abstractions. This impression is reinforced as the forms are hand-drawn, thus lacking the regularity and structure of blueprints and computer-generated renderings. Each print represents a specific theater or opera house, yet the reductive renderings make identification challenging, thus depicting theaters broadly considered. In this way, Kuitca raises questions regarding dialectical relationships between spaces and places (such as neighborhoods, cities, and countries), stage and auditorium, performers and audiences, as well as specific sites (such as the internationally-known theaters) and the non-places as described by Marc Augé of an increasingly globalized late capitalist world. In addition, Kuitca addresses the nature of perception as the viewer cannot see the stage set or performers, hear the music, or experience the theater itself; rather, he presents a nearly abstract rendering of an empty theater.
Artwork Details
- Title: Untitled from Puro Teatro (Pure Theater)
- Artist: Guillermo Kuitca (Argentinian, born Buenos Aires, 1961)
- Printer: Edition Jacob Samuel
- Publisher: Edition Jacob Samuel
- Date: 2003
- Medium: Etching and aquatint with chine collé
- Dimensions: Plate: 6 5/8 × 7 13/16 in. (16.8 × 19.9 cm)
Sheet: 15 3/4 in. × 16 in. (40 × 40.6 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: GIft of Jacob and Yael Samuel, 2025
- Object Number: 2025.272.3
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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