Melé, Juan N. (1923–)

Juan N. Melé (b. 15 October 1923) is an Argentine painter and sculptor. Born in Buenos Aires, he studied at the Prilidiano Pueyrredón School of Fine Arts. In 1948–1949 he received a grant from the French government and studied at the Louvre under Georges Vantongerloo, Cesar Domela, Robert Delauney, and Constantin Brancusi, among others. Melé has had a distinguished career in abstract painting and sculpture. In Argentina he joined the Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención, a group of nonfigurative artists. His work is a fine example of highly personal abstract art combining purely plastic form and a sensitive treatment of color. From 1974 to 1986 Melé lived and worked in New York. He has had numerous individual shows throughout the world, including one in 1987 at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Buenos Aires and another in 2001 at the Galerie Slotine in Paris. In 2002 he was named a member of the National Academy of Fine Arts of Argentina. As of 2007, he split his time between Buenos Aires and Paris.

See alsoArt: The Twentieth Century; Buenos Aires.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Vicente Gesualdo, Aldo Biglione, and Rodolfo Santos, Diccionario de artistas plásticos en la Argentina (1988).

Additional Bibliography

Argentina en el arte. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Institucionales, 2002.

Perazzo, Nelly. El arte concreto en la Argentina en la década del 40. Buenos Aires: Ediciones de Arte Gaglianone, 1983.

Ramírez, Mari Carmen. Cantos paralelos: La parodia plástica en el arte argentino contemporáneo. Austin: Blanton Museum of Art, College of Fine Arts, University of Texas, 1999.

Siracusano, Gabriela. Melé. Buenos Aires: Fundación Mundo Nuevo, 2005.

                                      Amalia Cortina Aravena