Libedinsky is a multi-facetted artist. The work of this fine Argentine artist is disquieting, inventive, playful and often very funny. It moves from the most absurd across the spectrum to the most powerful satire, whether it be with design, sculptures, furniture, cartoons or poetry! There is an element of surrealism that disturbs the status quo, so that elements are combined in such a way as to confuse and make you question what you see. From the understatement to the deadest of deadpan, you cannot experience her work without activating your mind, your thoughts, your intelligence and an abundance of your sense of humour!
Libedinsky has worked with paper cut outs, chairs, toys and furniture design and cartoons as well as writing political and funny poems in rhyme. Mostly in Spanish, sometimes mimicking the style and rhythms of famous writers, like Calderón de la Barca, or Ruben Darío, but totally altering their meaning.
This is an Artist that defies categorization. She studied Architecture and Urban Planning in her native Buenos Aires (Argentina) and moved to London in 1968, to find herself flung into the swinging sixties. She started out working for the GLC Schools Division and soon became a co-founder of ‘Marshmallow’ a design company creating soft toys for advertising, TV and other uses. The original pieces were selected for the Design centre in London. Later, for many years she worked in partnership with Nick Wadley, creating many eccentric and witty cartoons, posters, and book illustrations. Their ‘DoubleTakeaway’ cartoons were published in the Daily Telegraph and the RA Magazine, but among the funniest and sharpest were their Lax Column cartoons published in the Financial Times.
This new exhibition at the gx gallery is concentrating on the qualities that makes this artist stand out from so many others, hence the title: “The Art of the Absurd”. There are drawings in many media, works in 2-D and 3-D, acrylic and ink on paper, even on fabric and works made from foam, folded paper and atmospheric light & shadow projections. Through all these media, Libedinksy challenges her audience to take stock of themselves, to accept their own absurdities and their own position within society through humour and satire.
It is no surprise that even as a child she was already entertaining her peers with folded cut-outs and amusing them by playing with words: -
“All my life, I have loved doing everything that has to do with play...as with my poems, in part because children enjoy it so much, which always amused me. Many people are ‘cured ‘[and grow out of this], but I will never be ‘cured’, so I always continued to write absurd little refrains and verses and this led to strip- cartoons … many have been printed in The Telegraph and The Financial Times.”
The long- term collaboration with the late Nick Wadley has been key to much of Libedinsky’s work. They hit it off from day one, recognizing each other’s abilities: -
“When I had the ‘Marshmallow’ company, making toys and items for Television I went to the Chelsea College of Art to meet Nick Wadley as he organized exhibitions and I wanted to help a friend in Paris. He said, "NO, what I am really interested in is ‘your’ work!" … and so it was that he gave me my first exhibition. That was where we realized that we had a lot in common and we began to work together. We most enjoyed working with ‘puns’ and cartoons. As English is not my first language, my ‘puns’ are totally ridiculous, as it’s such an English thing… but it became more fun as it gave it all a twist. Sometimes we argued because, for instance, once we wanted to create a cartoon around ‘Hostile Bidding’ as it was fashionable at the time… so I wrote ‘Hostile Bidet’. Nick said: That’s not funny! And I would say: Yes, it’s funny! But in the end, I convinced him and it was published.”
She has been making paper cut-outs all her life, and they were very successful when she was selling them in Barcelona through the Miro Foundation, but she fears that these things do not last, mainly because, as she remarks, she is not a marketing person.
From the earliest days when, at Northland’s School in Buenos Aires, she was first introduced to Edward Lear and the “king of all kings, Hilaire Belloc”, ‘Nonsense poetry’ has been a passion: -
“I cannot imagine anything funnier, [than Hilaire Belloc]. Do you know him? Well, I started to analyse why he was so funny: he mocks, he surprises, there is a rhythm and the text is incongruent on purpose! So, I wrote it down: Of Mathida ( http://www.poetry-archive.com/b/matilda.html to see complete poem)
“Her aunt, who from her earliest youth
Had kept a strict regard for truth,
Attempted to believe Mathilda
The effort very nearly killed her”
There are so many and they’re all incongruous. So, I began to copy the idea [even though] it’s not exactly typical of the Spanish language! Especially two things that are quintessentially English, the ‘understatement’ and the ‘deadpan’. So much so, that ‘deadpan’ makes you laugh, but two minutes later! You really have to stop and think! Despite this, there are certain advantages that Spanish can offer, there are very distinct rhymes, and it has the ability of allowing for the reversal in the order of words. For example, [in English] you can say ‘nice house’, but you can’t say ‘house nice.’ In Spanish, this is not a problem, so [I find] it adds a lot of agility.“
Particularly fascinated by the Golden Age of literature in Spain, Libedinsky loves Calderón de la Barca (La Vida es Sueño- Life is a Dream), because she enjoys the twisted manner in which they spoke. The same goes for poems by San Juan Inés de la Cruz, Nicholas Guillén, or Ruben Darío. She mimics the rhythm of the text and then teases and mocks by playing with the style and meaning of the words. A surrealist at heart; -
“A todos dijera lo que mucho importa
Si la vida es corta compartir la torta.”
(To all I would say what is really important
If life’s too short share out the cake.)
“Hombres necios que acusáis
A la mujer sin razón,
Sin ver que sois la ocasión
de lo mismo que culpáis:”
(Pig-headed men who accuse
Women with no reason,
You’re unable to see that you’re the cause
Of that which you condemn).
Using poetry Libedinsky can be subtle but is, nevertheless, a very political animal, and many of her poems carry the weight of powerful satirical cartoons. Much in the manner of James Gillray, she mocks the politicians, points out their misdemeanours, scandalous behaviour and sometimes, even their crimes. People have thought her poems were fiction, because they could not believe those things could happen, but Libendinksy likes exposing the important issues so they do not remain hidden. For those who do not speak Spanish , it is a sad loss as their humour and wit are almost totally untranslatable! (see http://libedinsky.com/work/writing/)
“Some time ago, I heard some comedians having a discussion about humour and some were over 80 years of age, like Spike Milligan, and they were talking about how some words are so much funnier than others. Jokes about chickens are funny… a chicken is funny.
Why did the chicken cross the road?
Why did the dog cross the road is not funny! Chicken is funny, carrot is funnier than lettuce… the power of sounds! Duck is funny, also because you can imagine the duck, or a penguin who walks funny… It can be quite arbitrary, so it is really hard to change a joke!”
Often it is not what you say, but how you say it, the actual choice of words. This was also a passion of cartoonist Gary Larsson, who took a great deal of time to get the right titles for his pieces.
“Sounds have power. For example, if you listen to Gregorian Chant, whether you like it or not, some sounds, and certain lullabies, have a somniferous effect on us and can put us to sleep or into a trance.”
Chairs & Shadows
When it comes to her 3-Dimensional cut- outs, ‘Faces’ are designed to be cut out and assembled, interestingly the most popular have been ‘Faces’ and ‘Shoes’, although she has also designed ‘Hats’ and the more eccentric ‘Still Lives’.
“I like the ‘Still Lives’ best because they’re the most absurd. You take a piece of paper and you can fold it one way and then you can have three jugs, without cutting anything or using glue. It is very intuitive for me to do these things… I made them since I was a child, I think I must be part Japanese, [as it’s like still – life origami].”
These charming cut-outs are available on her website. They are also available in a book available at the Bookartbookshop. Libedinksy insists that she is not interested in being labelled an ‘Artist’, she is only interested in creating something that people enjoy and like and in entertaining herself as well. In fact, it would be of more value to her to know the items could be sold in a shop like Woolworths. These cut- outs are really sculptures in paper, and they do express her life-long love of Constructivism and the Futurists, and artists like Alexander Rodchenko, as well as the Bauhaus.
Never straying far from humour, she put together a Strip- Cartoon Festival with help from the talented designer, film maker and cartoonist Oscar Grillo. Later she participated in the diverse celebrations at the Argentine Embassy in 2010 to celebrate Argentina’s 200th anniversary. Curating an exhibition of Argentine Comic Art and Cartoons with Paul Gravell (who curates the annual Comica Festival at the ICA) they showed works by a diverse group of comic artists, including Quino, Oscar Grillo, Mordillo, and Muñoz.
Later, on a more serious note, in 2016, as part of the Playhouse exhibition during the ‘Open House’ event at the Argentine Embassy, she had a shadow installation called GHOSTS. With a poem around the theme called ‘La Casa Tomada’ (The Occupied House), this work made a direct reference to historical events that took place in Belgrave Square.
“During The [Bubonic] Plague, many bodies were buried in Belgrave Square, in all the squares, so my take is that the ghosts are annoyed and have taken over the Embassy, and the installation images are those very unhappy ghosts! In the dark room with the projections, we have the music of the National Anthem with one of the heads, which they then placed at the entrance.”
Ghosts
Sylvia Libedinksy: The Art of the Absurd / February 7th – March 1st 2019
Gx Gallery
43 Denmark Hill
Camberwell
London SE5 8RS
For more information: www.libedinsky.com
