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León ferrari
50 Years of Visual Resistance
An Overdue Renaissance
June 21 - august 2, 2025
little river
274 ne 67th st, miami fl, 33138
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About the Show
León Ferrari: 50 Years of Visual Resistance – Overdue Renaissance, a retrospective exhibition celebrating the extraordinary legacy of one of Latin America's most dissident and influential artists. This landmark show will feature a curated selection of works exclusively from the private collection of gallery founder Robert Borlenghi, offering a rare and intimate view into Ferrari’s enduring visual and political impact.
Spanning five decades of artistic production, the exhibition focuses on Ferrari’s use of abstract calligraphy and visual language as subversive tools—forms that challenge power, provoke thought, and resist oppression. From his early experiments with asemic writing to his dense, chaotic compositions that blur the boundaries between drawing and protest, Ferrari's work remains an urgent voice in the global conversation on human rights, authoritarianism, and the responsibilities of art.
This retrospective situates Ferrari's practice not only within the historical context of Latin American resistance movements but also as part of a broader, overdue renaissance of interest in politically engaged art. In a world still marred by censorship, war, and opression, his visual strategies resonate as fiercely today as they did when first conceived.
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OBJECTS
León Ferrari
Untitled, 2006Mixed media sculpture
21 x 25 x 23 in
53.3 x 63.5 x 58.4 cm -
HELIOGRAPHS
León Ferrari
Bairro from The Architecture of Madness series, 1980Heliograph
43 x 95 in
109.2 x 241.3 cm
Open Edition -
About the Heliographs
Text credit: Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos AiresThe Heliographies are large plans that Ferrari would send by mail, motivated by his belief in democratizing art. They were created between 1982 and 1983 during his exile in São Paulo, Brazil. In 1979, León started to create drawings incorporating Letraset copies for architectural plans representing men, toilets, beds, or doors. The series of Heliographies [...] consists of large heliographic plans depicting a society in which the man has become depersonalized. The use of the copies enabled Ferrari to systematize the representation of the human figure who, multiplied in uniformity.... Some of these plans, which León describes as "architectures of craziness," measure up to one meter by almost three meters. -
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WORKS ON PAPER
León Ferrari
Recuerdos, 2005Permanent marker on heavy paper
28.25 x 20 in
71.75 x 50.8 cm -
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About the Artist
León Ferrari was an Argentine conceptual artist renowned for his provocative works that challenged political, religious, and social norms. Born in Buenos Aires, he initially trained as an engineer before turning to art in the 1950s. His diverse practice encompassed sculpture, drawing, collage, and printmaking, often incorporating text and unconventional materials to critique authoritarianism, war, and religious exploitation.
One of his most controversial pieces, La Civilización Occidental y Cristiana (1965), depicted Christ crucified on a U.S. fighter jet, symbolizing the complicity of Western religion in justifying acts of violence. This work exemplified the artist’s commitment to defy conventional norms through art.
During Argentina's military dictatorship in the 1970s, Ferrari lived in exile in São Paulo, Brazil, where he continued to produce politically charged art. His contributions to contemporary art were recognized with numerous awards, including the Golden Lion at the 2007 Venice Biennale.
Ferrari's legacy endures as a testament to the power of art as a form of resistance and a tool for social commentary.
