The Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA) is proud to present Luis Fernando Benedit: Invisible Labyrinths. This exhibition explores a pivotal period of work by the visionary Argentine artist Luis Fernando Benedit (1937–2011), highlighting his undeniable contributions to the international development of Conceptualism and Systems art. As the first large-scale exhibition of this groundbreaking artist in New York since his debut at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1972, Luis Fernando Benedit: Invisible Labyrinths features more than forty works that have never before been exhibited in the United States, including paintings and Plexiglas bioart habitats. These works reflect Benedit’s radical, prescient exploration of ecology and systems of control in the context of the vibrant avant-gardes and harsh sociopolitical changes caused by the violent dictatorships in Argentina.
Throughout his career, Benedit had a profound impact on the international art world, including through his participation in the Buenos Aires–based Centro de Arte y Comunicación (CAYC) and his notable installation Biotrón (Biotron, 1970) at the 35th Venice Biennale. In 1972, MoMA presented the artist’s living sculpture Fitotrón (Phytotron)—a functional greenhouse for hydroponic cultivation—in the solo show Projects: Luis Fernando Benedit, marking the first time a Latin American artist was exhibited at the museum’s Project Gallery. Responding to a context of increasing social surveillance and administration of life, Benedit’s blend of ecology, art, and cybernetics raises questions about communication, control, and where the natural and artificial worlds overlap.
At ISLAA, the artist’s vivid oil and acrylic paintings lead visitors into the show, followed by his habitats for living animals and insects, alongside vast archival material, including drawings and documentation of the works’ original presentations. The exhibition also features Laberinto invisible (Invisible Labyrinth, 1971), an interactive installation of mirrors, lights, and an alarm, which was a milestone work in Benedit’s oeuvre and a formative contribution to Conceptualism. The piece represents Benedit’s groundbreaking investigations into cybernetics and the imperceptible systems of control determining daily life.
Luis Fernando Benedit: Invisible Labyrinths presents many of the artist’s works from the ISLAA collection for the first time, championing a Latin American artist whose legacy deserves greater visibility and recognition. ISLAA’s mission prioritizes preserving and highlighting the legacies of underrepresented artists to wider audiences, including creating greater global access to the Luis Fernando Benedit collection in the ISLAA Library and Archives. On view from September 7, 2024 to January 25, 2025 in ISLAA’s ground-level gallery, the show invites the public to step into Benedit’s experimental, influential world-building Systems art.
Luis Fernando Benedit: Invisible Labyrinths is cocurated by Laura Hakel, ISLAA curatorial fellow at the New Museum and curator of the collection and artistic projects at Fundación Ama Amoedo; Bernardo Mosqueira, ISLAA chief curator; and Olivia Casa, ISLAA curator and exhibition program manager.
EXHIBITION WORKS
Luis Fernando Benedit, Coronel vacío y ciego (Empty and Blind Coronel), 1968
Luis Fernando Benedit, La tercera mujer (The Third Woman), 1966
Luis Fernando Benedit, Hábitat para caracoles (Habitat for Snails), 1970
Luis Fernando Benedit, Evaporador de Sachs (Sachs Evaporator), 1972
Luis Fernando Benedit (Buenos Aires, 1937–2011) was an Argentine artist, architect, designer, and innovator of biological sculpture and systems art, who worked across sculpture, painting, and drawing. He was a key participant in the Buenos Aires–based art institution Centro de Arte y Comunicación (CAYC) and a founding member of the Grupo de Arte y Cibernética Buenos Aires and the conceptual art collective Grupo de los Trece. In 1963, Benedit graduated from the University of Buenos Aires with a degree in architecture and simultaneously developed a self-taught practice in painting. At this time, Benedit started producing figurative paintings inspired by Art Brut, Informalism, and New Figuration. His later paintings of the mid- to late 1960s reflect his interest in biomorphic forms and living organisms as well as the influence of cartoons and Pop art. Following his first collaborations with CAYC, Benedit explored the relationship between cybernetics and living organisms within natural and artificial environments, shifting from paintings to interactive works. Benedit exhibited the first work in what is known as his series of “habitats,” small architectural structures made from clear acrylic and Plexiglas used for housing live plants and animals, in 1968 at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. He produced habitats at various scales incorporating different natural elements throughout the 1970s. These works included Biotrón (1971), an aluminum and plexiglass structure for bees that was presented in the 35th Venice Biennale, and Phytotron (1972), a hydroponic environment for plants that was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Benedit’s work has been the subject of exhibitions at the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art (1980); the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires (1996); MALBA Costantini Collection – Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (2009); and the Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat Art Collection, Buenos Aires (2014), among others.
Tue–Sat: 12–6 PM Sun–Mon: Closed
Tue–Sat: 12–6 PM Sun–Mon: Closed
