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Marta Tarsia

Writings

Reviews, letters and opinions gathered from various publications, from 1982 to 2011.

David Fuks

Psychologist, writer, painter

“Marta Tarsia is a humanist who reaffirms in her work the enduring presence of man in conflict with himself and with his surroundings.”
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Marta Tarsia is a humanist who reaffirms in her work the enduring presence of man in conflict with himself and with his surroundings. This is the man of our time, who misses the guarantors and the guarantees that were once renewed in sacred rites.

A longing for a time that is evoked from this present, built with the sturdy materials of uncertainty rather than with the fragile conviction that another world is possible.

A present in which motherhood wears the faces of protection, but also that of the despair awakened by a threatening society, curtailed in its freedom and inequitable, in which the logos of politics and of justice has fallen into decline.

This backward glance, made of bird-launching Prometheuses, of petroglyphs and hieroglyphs, sums up — in the birds that fly out to meet man — the ideogram of freedom, of the eternal longing for free flight that reaffirms the human condition.

Marta Tarsia’s human figures seem to be praying to some secret god or seeking peace for some suffering, or perhaps they vainly ask of these mythical beings the scant mercy that powerful men deny them.

Marta Tarsia regales us with these figurative images (in which loving embraces, thinkers who struggle before the solitude of the desert of their own souls or on the bank of a river, standing upright before their own weave of fishermen’s net that ties them into History) burst in like intruders to interrupt the abstract.

On this occasion, the artistic technique that Marta Tarsia employs as a mediating device to give shape to her work, objectifying the creative process as it is elaborated in her imagination, is open to controversy.

Fortunately, in Marta Tarsia’s work technique does not subordinate either the content or the other elements of form; and, given her well-known career, we also know of her intense and elaborate work, and of her commitment to her process of production, which is anchored in her earlier work.

From her self-portrait, troubled and yearning, as if behind a net curtain of pixels, Marta watches us from the far end of the gallery and surely invites us, once again, to multiply her questions or her answers.

Translated from Spanish

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Marta Tarsia es una humanista que reafirma en su obra la vigencia del hombre en conflicto consigo mismo y con su entorno. Se trata del hombre de nuestro tiempo que echa de menos los garantes y las garantías, renovados antiguamente en los ritos sagrados.

Añoranza de un tiempo que es evocado desde este presente construido con los robustos materiales de la incertidumbre más que con las frágiles convicciones de que otro mundo es posible.

Presente en el cual la maternidad viste los rostros de la protección pero también el de la desesperación que despierta una sociedad amenazante, afectada en su libertad e inequitativa, en la cual ha periclitado el logos de la política y de la justicia.

Esta mirada hacia atrás, hecha de prometeos lanzapájaros, de petroglifos y jeroglíficos, resume en las aves que van al encuentro del hombre el ideograma de la libertad, del eterno anhelo de vuelo libre que reafirma la condición humana.

Las figuras humanas de Marta Tarsia parecen rogar a algún dios secreto o buscar paz para algún sufrimiento, o tal vez demanden inútilmente de estos seres míticos la exigua piedad que los hombres poderosos les niegan.

Marta Tarsia nos agasaja con estas imágenes figurativas (en las cuales los abrazos amorosos, los pensadores que se debaten ante la soledad del desierto de sus propias almas o a la vera de un río, erguidos ante su propia trama de red de pescadores que los anuda en la Historia) irrumpen como intrusas para discontinuar lo abstracto.

En esta oportunidad, la técnica artística que Marta Tarsia instrumenta como dispositivo mediador para plasmar su obra, objetivando el proceso creativo de elaboración en su imaginación, está sujeta a controversias.

Afortunadamente, en Marta Tarsia, la técnica no subordina ni al contenido ni a los otros elementos de la forma, y, por su reconocida trayectoria, sabemos además de su trabajo intenso y elaborado, de su compromiso con su proceso de producción, que ancla en sus trabajos anteriores.

Desde su autorretrato, perturbada y anhelante, como detrás de un visillo de píxeles, Marta nos observa desde el fondo de la sala y seguramente nos invita, una vez más, a multiplicar sus interrogantes o sus respuestas.

Lucio R. Berrone

Mathematician, writer, painter — March 2011

Notes on “Nueve cabezas”

“The heads are sometimes fragments, elements of a head or, better still, minimal expressive elements.”
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The solid, two-part lighting of the faces; the dominant tone that distinguishes each one of them; the roughness of the supporting surface, heightened by a ground that includes sand in its composition. The heads are sometimes fragments, elements of a head or, better still, minimal expressive elements.

Woman with half-closed eyes: the beloved contrast of ochres, blues and greys; the luminous volume of the eye sockets is striking. The drip of the paint stands apart from the dripping of the underlying matter: an effect of great beauty.

Violet: the eyes with large pupils and the light split across the androgynous face. The caricatural stylisation of the shadows; the heavy dripping on the dark side is, perhaps, a variant of the non finito.

The eyes: it is possible to reduce the expression to that of the eyes. The implausibility of the colours used balances their harsh realism. Perhaps it reinforces it…

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La sólida iluminación bipartita de los rostros; el tono dominante que distingue a cada uno de ellos; la rugosidad de la superficie soporte aumentada mediante una base que incluye arena en su composición. Las cabezas son a veces fragmentos, elementos de una cabeza o, mejor aún, elementos expresivos mínimos.

Mujer de ojos entornados: el dilecto contraste entre ocres, azules y grises; sorprende el volumen luminoso de las cuencas de los ojos. El goteo de la pintura se distingue del goteado de la materia subyacente: un efecto de gran belleza.

Violáceo: los ojos de grandes pupilas y la luz desdoblada en el rostro andrógino. La estilización caricaturesca de las sombras; el goteado intenso en el costado oscuro es, tal vez, una variante del non finito.

Los ojos: es posible reducir la expresión a la de los ojos. La inverosimilitud de los colores usados balancea su duro realismo. Tal vez lo refuerce…

Fernanda González Cortiñas

Rosario/12, December 1997

“América, la otra creación” — A classical gaze

“Marta Tarsia sketches a classical view of pre-Columbian art. Drawing on fragments of the Popol Vuh, this Rosario artist ventures into a world of distant mythologies.”
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In her exhibition América — la otra creación, Marta Tarsia sketches a classical view of pre-Columbian art. Drawing on fragments of the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiché people of Guatemala, this Rosario artist ventures into a world of distant mythologies; distant not only because of the geographical distance that separates these lands from the remote Mesoamerican cultures, but also because of the difficulties of understanding that their cosmogony presents to the outsider’s eye.

Working on the roots of art by studying Indigenous painting is a temptation that almost no artist can escape. Grasping its intensity, however, and then setting it down on canvas is something else. Imbued with this irrepressible “call of the land”, Tarsia traces back through time what may have been the beginning of a distinctly “Americanist” way of creating, and to do so she relies on that ancient treatise which, rooted in a long-cherished oral tradition, was made known through a sixteenth-century version (1534-1539).

Also known as the “Book of Counsel”, the Popol Vuh has given many artists ample material; writers, poets and painters have sought in its pages the origins of an “American art” that even today has not found a name to set it apart.

Her figures have something of the colossi that dominated the murals of Orozco or Siqueiros. Women giving birth almost standing up, animals linked to macabre cults, and characters half man, half beast are some of the forms Tarsia chooses to draw from that rich spectrum which makes up the civilised imagination’s idea of “the native”.

In América — la otra creación, the sallow faces with almond-shaped eyes mingle with a typically indigenist symbolism: primitive gods carved in stone, repeated like a seal across the compositions; hideous imaginary vermin rising from the dreamlike ravings of the tribe’s sorcerers — after what was probably a generous intake of hallucinogenic mushrooms —; the warriors, those masterly beings who do not know the meaning of the word fear; the Indian women, immensely fertile, givers of life, hard-working and mistresses of the inexhaustible power of the earth. (América — la otra creación can be visited on the ground floor of the Centro Cultural “Bernardino Rivadavia”, San Luis and San Martín, until 31 December.)

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En su muestra América — la otra creación, Marta Tarsia esboza una mirada clásica del arte precolombino. Basada en algunos fragmentos del Popol Vuh, el libro sagrado de los indios quichés de Guatemala, esta rosarina se interna en un mundo de mitologías lejanas; lejanas no sólo por la distancia geográfica que separa estas tierras de las remotas culturas mesoamericanas sino por las dificultades de comprensión que presenta su cosmogonía para el ojo forastero.

Trabajar sobre las raíces del arte, estudiando la pintura indígena, es una tentación a la que casi ningún artista puede escapar. Comprender, sin embargo, su intensidad, y luego plasmarlo sobre una tela es algo distinto. Imbuida por este irrefrenable “llamado de la tierra”, Tarsia rastrea a través del tiempo lo que pudo ser el comienzo de una forma de crear de corte netamente “americanista”, y para esto se apoya en ese milenario tratado que, basado en una acendrada tradición oral, fue dado a conocer por una versión del siglo XVI (1534-1539).

También llamado el “Libro de los Consejos”, el Popol Vuh ha dado tela para cortar a muchos artistas; escritores, poetas y pintores han buscado en sus páginas los orígenes de un “arte americano” que aún hoy no ha hallado un nombre que lo distinga.

Sus figuras tienen algo de esos colosos que protagonizaban los murales de Orozco o Siqueiros. Mujeres que dan a luz casi de pie, animales relacionados con cultos macabros, y personajes mitad hombres, mitad bestias, son algunas de las formas que Tarsia decide tomar de ese rico espectro que compone el ideario civilizado acerca de “lo nativo”.

En América — la otra creación, los rostros cetrinos de ojos rasgados se mezclan con la simbología típicamente indigenista: dioses primitivos grabados en la piedra que se repiten como un sello sobre las composiciones; espantosas alimañas imaginarias que surgen de los delirios oníricos de los brujos de la tribu —luego de una probablemente abundante ingesta de hongos alucinógenos—; los guerreros, esos magistrales seres que desconocen el significado de la palabra miedo; las mujeres indias, inmensamente fértiles, dadoras de vida, trabajadoras y dueñas del inagotable poder de la tierra. (América — la otra creación se puede visitar en la planta baja del Centro Cultural “Bernardino Rivadavia”, San Luis y San Martín, hasta el 31 de diciembre.)

Olga R. Z. de Pareja Núñez

La Capital, Rosario, 1982

“As one moves through her paintings, one has the sense that something beyond the act of painting is taking place.”
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As one moves through her paintings, one has the sense that something beyond the act of painting is taking place. It is the action of a body of work that stands out, at times, for imponderables that defy explanation. What prevails is the subjective rhythm, the artist’s emotion, her particular way of resolving a plane.

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Al recorrer sus cuadros se siente la sensación de que algo, más allá del hecho de pintar, está ocurriendo. Es la acción de una obra que se distingue, a veces, por imponderables que no tienen explicación. Prevalece el ritmo subjetivo, la emoción de la artista, la particular forma de resolver un plano.

Luján Carranza

Rosario

“Her line is valuable, her composition perfect, but colour in her paintings is the natural achievement of one who does not fix it but speaks it.”
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Her line is valuable, her composition perfect, but colour in her paintings is the natural achievement of one who does not fix it but speaks it, so that the voices of her skies, of her lands and of those humble figures amid a spontaneous and marvellous vegetation do not remain secret or sealed.

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Valiosa su línea, perfecta su composición, pero el color es en sus cuadros el natural acierto de quien no lo fija sino lo habla para que no queden secretas o herméticas las voces de sus cielos, de sus tierras y de esos humildes personajes de una vegetación espontánea y maravillosa.

Patricia Martínez Dufour

Rosario

“The subject is not the object but the composition as a whole.”
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This pupil of Marcelo Dasso has been exhibiting for more than ten years, remaining faithful to her preference for the human figure. There is a very marked change in her palette, which shows a greater range of tonal gradations, with new opportunities to draw light out of every possible corner. Very commendable work in the backgrounds unifies the whole painting, so that the subject is not the object but the composition as a whole.

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Esta alumna de Marcelo Dasso expone desde hace más de diez años, siguiendo la fidelidad que indica su preferencia por la figura humana. Hay un cambio muy notorio en la paleta, donde se aprecia una amplitud mayor de los engamados con nuevas oportunidades para sacar luz desde todos los rincones posibles. Un trabajo muy loable en los fondos integra toda la pintura, siendo de esta manera el tema no el objeto sino la composición total.

La Rioja

La Rioja press, 1985

“One of those artists who leave on the canvas not merely a descriptive image, but each of the experiences that the journey has brought.”
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Her intimate subject matter, charged with evocations of places she has travelled through, together with her particular sense of colour, make Tarsia one of those artists who leave on the canvas not merely a descriptive image, but rather each of the experiences that the journey has brought.

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Su temática intimista y cargada de evocaciones de lugares recorridos, más su particular sentido del color, hacen de Tarsia una de esas artistas que dejan en la tela no sólo una imagen descriptiva, sino más bien cada una de las vivencias deparadas por el andar.

La actualidad en el Arte

Buenos Aires, c. 1984

“Her subject matter is intimate and varied, structured with a keen sense of composition.”
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Since 1975, Marta Beatriz Tarsia, a visual artist from Rosario, has maintained a steady activity that has allowed her to exhibit in important galleries in that city, in Mar del Plata and in Buenos Aires. Her latest exhibition opened last May at the Galería Witcomb in this capital, where she also exhibited last year.

Her subject matter is intimate and varied, structured with a keen sense of composition. The figurative images are presented with a particular handling of colour, through subtle tonal gradations that make the contour arise from the patch of colour rather than from the line.

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Desde 1975, Marta Beatriz Tarsia, plástica de Rosario, viene desarrollando una actividad constante que le ha permitido exponer en importantes galerías de esa ciudad, Mar del Plata y Buenos Aires. Su última muestra se inauguró en mayo último en la Galería Witcomb de esta capital, en la que también expuso el año pasado.

Su temática es intimista y diversa, estructurada con gran sentido de la composición. Las imágenes figurativas están presentadas con un particular manejo del color, dado por sutiles gradaciones tonales que hacen que el contorno resulte más de la mancha cromática que de la línea.

Manuela Porlimanti

Pro Loco Monte San Giusto — Monte San Giusto, Macerata — 5º Concorso Internazionale di Pittura

“Your painting was singled out by the jury and received as its prize a plaque of merit.”
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Dear Madam: I apologise for the delay in writing to you, but we have all been very busy at the Pro Loco… I wanted to let you know that your painting was singled out by the jury and received as its prize a plaque of merit (targa di merito) offered by our Pro Loco; I send you, on my own behalf and on behalf of the whole jury, our warmest congratulations.

All the prize-winning paintings that remain with the Pro Loco will form part of a municipal gallery of contemporary art to be opened in Monte San Giusto; if you leave us your painting, it will be exhibited in that gallery.

Translated from Italian

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Carissima signora, mi scuso per il ritardo con cui le scrivo ma siamo stati tutti molto impegnati in Pro Loco… volevo comunicarle che il suo quadro è stato segnalato dalla giuria ed ha ricevuto come premio una targa di merito offerta dalla nostra pro-loco e dunque le mando da parte mia e di tutta la giuria i migliori complimenti!

Tutti i quadri premiati che rimangono alla pro loco faranno parte di una pinacoteca comunale di arte contemporanea che verrà aperta a Monte San Giusto e per questo se lascerà a noi il suo quadro questo verrà esposto nella pinacoteca.

El Norte

San Nicolás, 27 October 1984

Exhibition by Marta Tarsia opens today at “Rumbo”

“The owner of a noble and rich expressive palette with which she unravels “depths of ravines and silences, thirsty and untamed sands”.”
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An important exhibition of paintings will open this evening at 8 p.m. in the Sala “Rómulo Elena” at the headquarters of the Asociación Cultural “Rumbo”. On this occasion, the distinguished Rosario artist Marta Beatriz Tarsia will show her works. She possesses a noble and rich expressive palette with which she unravels “depths of ravines and silences, thirsty and untamed sands, cardón cacti keeping watch on horizons, the weeping of hidden hills”, to paraphrase the poet Mons. Enrique A. Angelelli.

Marta Beatriz Tarsia has accomplished a long, prolific and rising artistic career. This will be the first time she has exhibited in our city, and the announcement has aroused enormous interest among devotees of the visual arts.

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Una importante exposición pictórica quedará habilitada a partir de esta tarde a las 20, en la Sala “Rómulo Elena” de la Sede Social de la Asociación Cultural “Rumbo”. En la oportunidad expondrá sus obras la destacada artista plástica rosarina Marta Beatriz Tarsia, poseedora de una noble y rica paleta expresiva con la que desentraña “honduras de quebradas y silencios, arenales sedientos y bravíos, cardonales vigías en horizontes, lloros de cerros escondidos”, parafraseando al poeta Mons. Enrique A. Angelelli.

Marta Beatriz Tarsia lleva cumplida una larga, proficua y ascendente trayectoria artística. Esta será la primera vez que expone en nuestra ciudad y su anuncio ha despertado un enorme interés entre los adictos a las manifestaciones plásticas.

El País

La Rioja, 24 July 1985

Marta Beatriz Tarsia opens an exhibition today

““When I was in La Rioja I made sketches of the rugged beauty of the landscape, then worked on them in my studio.””
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The exhibition by the visual artist Marta Beatriz Tarsia opens today. Some time ago the painter, a native of Rosario, visited La Rioja and made sketches that she later refined in her studio. Now, at the invitation of the Dirección de Cultura and at the Centro de Ingenieros, which has lent its premises for the exhibition, she will show a series of works that originated in our province.

“When I was in La Rioja I made sketches of the rugged beauty of the landscape, then worked on them in my studio and had the opportunity to exhibit them in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Tucumán and now in La Rioja, where I eagerly hope they will reach the spirit of the people of La Rioja.”

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Quedará inaugurada hoy la muestra de la artista plástica Marta Beatriz Tarsia. La pintora, oriunda de Rosario, tiempo atrás estuvo en La Rioja y tomó apuntes que luego perfeccionó en su taller. Ahora, invitada por la Dirección de Cultura y en el Centro de Ingenieros que cedió el local para la muestra, expondrá una serie de trabajos que tuvieron origen en nuestra provincia.

“Cuando estuve en La Rioja tomé apuntes de la belleza agreste del paisaje, luego los trabajé en mi taller y tuve oportunidad de exponerlos en Buenos Aires, Rosario, Tucumán y ahora en La Rioja, que espero con gran ansiedad llegue al espíritu de los riojanos.”

La Capital

Rosario, 1985

Exhibition of oil paintings in Salta

“An exhibition of oil paintings by the Rosario painter Marta Beatriz Tarsia at the Museo de Bellas Artes de Salta.”
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The Museo de Bellas Artes of this city, housed in the Casa de Arias Rengel, declared a national historic monument in 1946, is holding an exhibition of oil paintings by the Rosario painter Marta Beatriz Tarsia. The exhibition comprises 23 works from the artist’s most recent output.

She has taken part in numerous national, provincial and municipal salons, receiving distinctions at the “Manuel Musto” salon in 1975, 1977 and 1981 and at the Salón de Artistas Plásticos Rosarinos in 1978. She also served on the jury of the “Manuel Musto” salon in 1982 and of the “FATA” salon in 1984.

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En el Museo de Bellas Artes de esta ciudad, que funciona en la Casa de Arias Rengel, declarada monumento histórico nacional en 1946, se está llevando a cabo una muestra de óleos de la pintora rosarina Marta Beatriz Tarsia. La exposición está compuesta por 23 obras de la última producción de la artista.

Participó en numerosos salones nacionales, provinciales y municipales obteniendo distinciones en el salón “Manuel Musto”, en 1975, 1977 y 1981 y en el Salón de Artistas Plásticos Rosarinos en 1978. Además integró el jurado en el salón “Manuel Musto” en 1982 y en el salón “FATA” en 1984.

Tiempo Empresario

Rosario, October 1988

“Argelia, raza y cultura milenaria — testimonio 1987”

“A series of drawings devoted to the people of the north and the desert region of Algeria, based on an in-depth study of the life of man and of the culture of Berber origin.”
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An exhibition of ink drawings at the Asociación Empresaria de Rosario, from 4 November 1988. By subject, the series can be divided into: “Hombres del desierto”, figures who inhabit the region of the first oases of the Algerian Sahara, many of them merchants, in their characteristic attire; “Niños”, from the desert region and the mountains of Kabylie; and “Mujeres de Argel”, veiled women who live in the country’s capital, on the coast and in the traditional Casbah.

Most of the works were executed in black and white; some in colour. In India ink, markers and felt-tip pens; in some cases a quill pen (calamus) was used. A few were set against ornamental motifs from Islamic architecture: arches, mosaics, fountains.

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Exposición de dibujos en tinta en la Asociación Empresaria de Rosario, a partir del 4 de noviembre de 1988. Por el tema, la serie puede dividirse en: “Hombres del desierto”, personajes que habitan en la región de los primeros oasis del Sahara argelino, muchos de ellos mercaderes, con sus atavíos característicos; “Niños”, de la región desértica y de las montañas de Kabylie; y “Mujeres de Argel”, mujeres veladas que viven en la capital del país, en la costa y en la típica Casbah.

La mayoría de los trabajos fueron ejecutados en blanco y negro; algunos, en color. En tinta china, marcadores, fibrones; en algunos casos se empleó pluma de ave (cálamo). Unos pocos fueron ambientados con motivos ornamentales de la arquitectura musulmana: arcos, mosaicos, fuentes.

Farid Mammeri

Director of Nadi El Ouns — Algiers, 3 August 1987

“Thank you for the endearing image of Argentina that you were able to give us.”
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Allow me, on behalf of the many visitors who came to see your exhibition, held from 15 July to 31 August, to thank you for the endearing image of Argentina that you were able to give us, and for the sensitivity of heart that cannot but bring the artists of the world closer together.

Translated from French

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Permettez-moi, au nom du nombreux public venu voir votre exposition qui s’est déroulée du 15 juillet au 31 août, de vous remercier pour l’image attachante que vous avez su nous donner de l’Argentine et la sensibilité de cœur qui ne peut que rapprocher les artistes du monde.

Hugo Cava

Coordinator of the exhibition “9 cabezas”

“It was a source of pride for me to work with you.”
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I want you to know that it was a source of pride for me to work with you, since I deeply admire people who approach their activities with such professionalism and sense of responsibility.

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Quiero que sepas que para mí fue un orgullo trabajar con vos, ya que admiro profundamente a las personas que encaran con tanto profesionalismo y responsabilidad sus actividades.