Volf Roitman
Encyclopedia
; died 25 April 2010) was a painter, sculptor and architect, sometimes referred to as a Renaissance Man, the son of Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
/Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
parents.
He grew up in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
where he received a degree in architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
whilst co-editing a cult poetry magazine. At age twenty, he moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where, with Carmelo Arden Quin
Carmelo Arden Quin
The artist Carmelo Arden Quin was born in Rivera, Uruguay. Before he moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina during the early 1940s, he lived in Uruguay and Brazil. In 1946 Arden moved to Paris and returned to Argentina during the 1950s. He has been a poet, political writer, painter, sculptor and...
, founder of the Latin American movement :fr:MADI (Art), instantly morphed into a painter while helping to relaunch MADI, first in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and eventually across four continents. Moving between countries and cultures – he has lived in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, the U.K., Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and finally outside of Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
– and although eventually distanced from the MADI movement’s official conservative views, he remained always faithful to its concepts of ludic invention and whimsical humor within the boundaries of colorful geometric abstraction.
"Roitman is considered one of the great MADI creators. His disposition for aesthetic playfulness illustrates the very essence of the movement. Forms, colors, invention and imagination blend in a superabundance that alerts us to the existence of exceptional creation… …His sculptures - lamps, torches of the imagination – serve to corroborate the sense of liberty that runs through all of MADI creation "... Most recently, Roitman started to produce large transformable wall hangings called MADI Banners on silkSilkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
and metalMetalA metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
, some of which are applied on transparent surfaces glowing as stained glass windowsStained Glass WindowsStained Glass Windows was an early broadcast television program, broadcast on early Sunday evenings on the ABC network. The program was a religious broadcast, hosted by the Reverend Everett Parker....
. He has also taken his work to new dimensions by covering ordinary buildings, such as the Wood Building in MarshallMarshall, TexasMarshall is a city in Harrison County in the northeastern corner of Texas. Marshall is a major cultural and educational center in East Texas and the tri-state area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Marshall was about 23,523...
, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and the MADI Museum in Dallas, with his vividly colored, three-dimensional panels, thus creating giant MADI “sculptureSculptureSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
” pieces . Of the latter building, LA WeeklyLA WeeklyLA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
critic Peter Frank wrote, “The building … marks a landmark in recent history of art … Not since the MuseumMuseumA museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of non-Objective Art in New York morphed into the GuggenheimSolomon R. Guggenheim MuseumThe Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
Museum more than half a century ago has there been anything like this in North America.”
MADI has proved itself to be the longest-running, continuously active art movement in the world. The entity which Arden Quin and Roitman formed in 1951 eventually evolved into MADI International, that today comprises some sixty artists working on four continents.
Early years
In 1951, Roitman moved to Paris where he met the founder of the MADI movement, the UruguayUruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
an master painter Carmelo Arden Quin
Carmelo Arden Quin
The artist Carmelo Arden Quin was born in Rivera, Uruguay. Before he moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina during the early 1940s, he lived in Uruguay and Brazil. In 1946 Arden moved to Paris and returned to Argentina during the 1950s. He has been a poet, political writer, painter, sculptor and...
. Following Roitman’s proposal, both artists created the MADI Research and Study Center (for experimental art), which functioned through the 50s in Arden Quin’s Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
studio, an open workshop and research facility which significantly influenced the work of numerous European and North and South American artists then studying and working in the confines of the School of Paris
School of Paris
School of Paris refers to two distinct groups of artists — a group of medieval manuscript illuminators, and a group of non-French artists working in Paris before World War I...
. The Center promoted (1) non-figurative works with irregularly-shaped forms in flat, sharply defined colors; (2) the systemization of articulated, transformable and mechanized sculpture; and (3) an interdisciplinary approach to the arts first promoted by the Futurists
Futurists
Futurists or futurologists are scientists and social scientists whose speciality is to attempt to systematically predict the future, whether that of human society in particular or of life on earth in general....
but systemized, starting in the 40s, by MADI and by other groups such as Fluxus
Fluxus
Fluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
. In the field of MADI sculpture, massive structures are replaced by a dynamic relationship between the lines
Line (geometry)
The notion of line or straight line was introduced by the ancient mathematicians to represent straight objects with negligible width and depth. Lines are an idealization of such objects...
s and planes of solid forms and the openings with which these forms are pierced. Space thus becomes an integral and equally important part of the work.
Roitman navigated through the Parisian avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
scene of cafes, studios and galleries where he drew his main inspiration during those years from the Belgian master George Vantongerloo. He was also inspired with a work from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris is the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art dedicated to the arts of the 20th/21st centuries. It is located at 11 Avenue du Président Wilson in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.-Description:...
: Malevich’s 1915 seminal work :fr:Carré blanc sur fond blanc. “Already plunged into the worlds of Celtic myths, alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, and Zen Buddhism, Roitman believed that somewhere in this pale world of absent color, he might discover the absolute. From the beginning, his personal style involved a predominant use of circles, a complete break with Piet Mondrian
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Mondriaan, after 1906 Mondrian , was a Dutch painter.He was an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which was founded by Theo van Doesburg. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism...
’s sacrosanct straight linear structures and his orthogonal rigidity, a heresy for which he, like Georges Vantongerloo
Georges Vantongerloo
Georges Vantongerloo was a Belgian abstract sculptor and painter and founding member of the De Stijl group.-Life:...
would often be signaled out and, on occasion, rebucked. ”
Roger Neyrat, a French artist and a veteran of MADI in the 50’s, still remembers: “I held this work (a Roitman’s painting, called “The Lost Triangle” -1953) above myself, ready to make it circulate among the few dozens of people assisting at my reading at Claude Dorval Gallery (1995)…It’s the most beautiful MADI work, repeated Carmelo several times. We haven’t ever gone so far in our abstract works!” Roger Neyrat continues: “But beginning in 1956, Roitman initiated a series of more complex compositions where the design became more dynamic, the curves more playful and dancing. Two years later, in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, this process led to his series of “Memories of Balanchine” (1958–1960), real MADI ballets…A pure joy and an example for new generations. There is so much of joyful emotion on these works, a rare gift even with the great abstract masters. Roitman has gone even further!”
During this period, Roitman’s paintings were exhibited at the following venues:
- Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, Paris: 1952 – 53 – 54 – 55 -56.
- Galerie Suzanne Michel, Paris, February 1953
- Cercle Paul Valéry, La Sorbonne, Paris, 15 June 1953.
- Galerie de l’Odéon, Paris February 1954.
- Galerie Cimaise, in the show "14 Abstract Artistes", Paris, January 1955 acquis les bases solides de l’évolution picturale qui se manifestait alors.
- In November, 1955, Volf Roitman’s exhibition at the Galérie de Beaune in Paris constituted the first solo show by a MADI artist in Europe.
- Galerie Denise René, Paris, a group show in April 1956 http://www.volfroitman.com/Biography%20Extended.htm.
From 1961 to 1982, Roitman consecrated himeself mainly to literature and other creative activities.
The Var – Barcelona – 1979–1998
In 1979, although retaining his near Paris residence until 1984, Roitman started progressively to live most of the year in MontaurouxMontauroux
Montauroux is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Its neighbor town is the picturesque Callian which can be seen across a small valley.-Geography:...
, a picturesque village in the Var, behind the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
.
In 1982, Roitman produced his first 3-dimensional collages.
That same year, from Feb. 12 to March 10, the Espace Donguy, Paris, presented Mouvances MADI, Lieu 5, a group of artists which included works by Roitman, together with A.Q. Nunez, Neyrat, Alocco, Asis, Belleudy, Blaine, Bory, Chubac, Fejer, Monticelli and Vardánega. This exhibition marked the beginning of Roitman’s return to the visual arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
, even though he was also still writing and working in the film business. Since then, Roitman's work has been featured in over 100 MADI group and one-man shows, gallery and museum exhibitions, art fairs and auctions on four continents. Among the most important shows and events:
Nov 4–30, 1984: Exhibition of Arte MADI, 1946–1984, Attualita de un Movimento, variation on the de la Salle show in Oct., held at Il Salotto Gallerie d’Arte, Como, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
called Perchè Arte MADI written by Salvador Presta and signed by A.Q., Presta, de la Salle, Roitman and Esposito.
April 1991: Inauguration of Arte Concreto Invención, Arte MADI, an important historical book and retrospective organized by Miklos von Bartha at the Haus für Konstructive und Konkrete Kunst in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. MADI historical artists in show are Arden Quin, Volf Roitman, Juan Bay, Martín Blaszko, Gyula Kosice, and Rhod Rothfuss. (see this Book)
April 1992 : Abstraction Geometrique show at the Galerie de la Salle, St-Paul-de-Vence. Participants are Arden Quin, Bolivar, Chubac, Demarco, Garcia-Rossi, Lapeyrère, Melé, Poirot-Matsuda, Faucon, Belleudy, Caporicci, Desserprit, Le Cousin, Nemours, Presta, Blaszko, Caral, Decq, Girodon, Jonquière, Leppien, Piemonti, Sobrino, and Roitman, who is now working full-time on his paper collages and starting to apply the same three-dimensional principles of his collages to his first metal work, reliefs and sculpture pieces. From this period on, he will again show his work on a regular basis with the MADIstes.
From 1992-2005, Roitman became both head of Communication and Archivist
Archivist
An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...
for the MADI Movement.
April 1993 : One-man show of Roitman’s recent decoupages and his historical pieces from the 50s inaugurated at the St. Charles de Rose Gallery in Paris, and from May 7 to June 5 at the Helios Gallery in Calais, France. From June 10 to September 15, 1993, Roitman was one the main organizers of a MADI show at the Chateau St-Cirq-Lapopie (Lot), France, a space formerly devoted to André Breton and the Surrealists, with 40 MADI artists participating. Painting, sculpture and poetic acts. (See catalogues)
9 April 1994: Inauguration of the one-man show Volf Roitman, Obras MADI at Centro de Arte La Rectoria, St-Pere-de-Vilamajor (Greater Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
), Spain, curated by Josep Plandiura. A room at the show is devoted to an introduction of the MADI concept to the Spanish public, and it was here that Roitman first showed his Proteus sculptures – cardboard
Paperboard
Paperboard is a thick paper based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker than paper. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a basis weight above 224 g/m2, but there are exceptions. Paperboard can be single...
decoupage
Decoupage
Decoupage is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and so on. Commonly an object like a small box or an item of furniture is covered by cutouts from magazines or from purpose-manufactured papers...
encased in molded plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
frames and suspended from large metal stands.
1995:
8 June: In conjunction with Carmelo Arden Quin: 44 Ans Après, exhibition at Claude Dorval Gallery, Paris. Show commemorates meeting in Paris, 44 years earlier, of Arden Quin and Roitman and their founding of the MADI Research and Study Center in Arden Quin’s Montparnasse studio. A conference, attended by Tomás Maldonado
Tomás Maldonado
Tomás Maldonado . Argentine painter, designer and thinker, is considered one of the main theorists of the legendary ”Ulm Model”, a design philosophy developed during his tenure at the Ulm School of Design in Germany.-Biography:Born in the Argentine city of Buenos Aires, his artistic formation...
, founder of the Argentine movement, Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención, and a former member of MADI Argentina, is given by Roger Neyrat and Volf Roitman in the Dorval gallery on June 18.
6 October: Inauguration of Continuidad MADI show at the Centoira Gallery in Buenos Aires together with works by A.Q., Blaszko, Bolivar and Laperèyre.
Oct. 30-Dec. 30: MADI, Anterioridad y Continuidad MADI exhibition at Museo Torres García - Montevideo., Montevideo, Uruguay. Historical and recent works with Arden Quin and Bolivar.
1996:
7 March– 3 April: MADI Internacional, 50 Ans Despuès, a groundbreaking international exhibition curated by Cesar Lopez-Osornio and shown at the Centro de Exposiciónes y Congresos of the Ibercaja Bank in Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
, Spain. Roitman writes the historical section of the catalogue and the MADI chronology, and he shows his works with 56 MADI artists from France, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
which officially introduces MADI art in Spain.
March 28–May 10: Inauguration of MADI: Dopo Il Rettancolo show at Arte Struktura Gallery in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, focused on the works of three MADI artists: Arden Quin, Salvador Presta and Roitman.
20 September, at the Albuquerque Museum, Roitman gave a conference in which he introduced his philosophy of MADI-Ludico architecture, the ideas for which grew out of his works with 3-dimensional collages and laser-cut sculpture: “Strictly polygonal design of asymmetric façades …geometric forms with sharply defined colors and contours, tri-dimensional surfaces, a clearly “ludico” (playful) spirit…the same basic computer program can produce an almost inexhaustible series of different exterior panels. This system provides us with the means to overthrow the tyranny of the module which has, with few exceptions, ruled architecture from the time of ancient Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
…” The same day,in the same city, he inaugurated a solo show at the Arte Struktura Gallery.
In October, 1996, Roitman obtained a commission to design and build a model for his project of a MADI-Ludico building designated for a site in downtown Dallas.
1997:
June 30 to Oct 20: “Arte MADI,” a vast retrospective curated by Maria-Lluisa Borràs for Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
Reina Sofia
Reina Sofia can refer to:* Queen Sofía of Spainor several buildings and places named after her:* Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía* Tenerife South Airport...
, Madrid, with a 300-page catalogue in Spanish and English chronicling MADI history from its origins to the movement’s present activities on 4 continents. Historical works by Roitman from the 50s and 2 contemporary sculpture pieces. In addition, an entire room at the Reina Sofía is devoted to a Roitman architectural model – his vision of a MADI building “where constant interplays of light and shadow situated the edifice in a chimerical constructivist category … a game of spatial echoes”. Extracts of Roitman “Manifesto in favor of a MADI-Ludico Architecture” were published in the 300 page catalogue (see catalogue)
Sept 26 to Oct 31: Hors Cadre, exhibit of the works of Arden Quin and Volf Roitman, curated by Roberto Vignola for the Galerie Alexandre Mottier in Geneva. Da MADI à MADI, vast retrospective held at the Civica Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Gallarate (Greater Milan), Italy, curated by Emma Zanella Manara and Anna Canali and featuring works of 44 artists working today in MADI International and a historical section spotlighting the works of Arden Quin, Blaszko, Presta and Roitman. This Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
contemporary museum has since opened a new wing designed to display its permanent collection of MADI works.
Between Florida and West Cork (1998- )
Since 1998, Roitman works out of studios in Tampa, Florida and West CorkWest Cork
West Cork refers to a geographical area in south-west Ireland, lying within Ireland's largest county, County Cork. Traditionally a popular tourist destination, the area is seen as being distinct from the more populated northern or eastern parts of the county, as well as the more urban area of...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
In November 1999, he presented a solo show at the Sarasota Visual Art Center, about which the renowned art critic Marcia Corbino wrote: “The Sarasota Visual Art center has mounted a MADI festival which may earn the Arts Center a niche in the history of 20th century art
20th century art
20th-century art and what it became known as — modern art — really began with modernism in the late 19th century. Nineteenth-century movements of Post Impressionism and Art Nouveau led to the first twentieth-century art movements of Fauvism in France and Die Brücke in Germany. Fauvism in Paris...
.” One month later, Roitman unveiled a large metal wall relief commissioned by the Palmer Foundation of Houston, for the north wall of the Sarasota Center. Roitman originated and helped to organize the first North American exhibition exclusively devoted to MADI: “Outside the Box: Eleven International MADI Artists Featuring Carmelo Arden Quin and Volf Roitman From the Masterson and The Lenherr Collections,” shown at the Polk
Polk
- People :*Polk, Paiute chief*Albert Fawcett Polk , American lawyer and United States representative from Delaware*Aysia Polk , American actress*Carlos Polk , American football player*Charles Polk, Jr...
Museum in Lakeland
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located approximately midway between Tampa and Orlando along Interstate 4. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 94,406...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
from August to October 2001 and at the Gulf Coast Museum in Largo
Largo, Florida
Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, USA and is part of the Tampa Bay Area. Centrally located, it is the crossroads of the county. As of the 2000 census, the City had a total population of 69,371. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau was...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, from November to January, 2002.
Starting in January 2002, he created the entrance facade of the MADI Museum and was named its Artistic Director. The Museum and Gallery in the Uptown quarter of Dallas was inaugurated on 22 February 2003. The building’s two principal facades were completely transformed by two-store high sculptural works specially created by Roitman during a fifteen-month period – asymmetrical pieces of the bright colors, drenched in ludic or whimsical cuts and folds and bolted to a mirrored background. This lightning bolt transformation of a pedestrian office building into a sculptural work is considered by Roitman to be the culmination of his own life devoted entirely to the arts. For the Museum’s opening exhibition, a cornucopia of Roitman works was also on show – a mechanized moving tower, an explanatory mechanized sculpture entitled “What Is MADI?”, a wall of metal and Plexiglas “portholes,” his abstract and stylized version of “the Movies,” and other important pieces. Roitman also designed the museum’s interior, including the transformation of an interior wall of the building’s great hall into a unique sculptural piece of color and metal decoupages.
From 9 November 2002 to 5 January 2003 “Heart and Mind – The Art of Volf Roitman,” featured at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art
Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art
Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art is an art museum located on the campus of St. Petersburg College in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The museum houses a permanent collection which includes paintings by Abraham Rattner and contemporary Florida sculpture including modern art by Abraham Rattner, Esther Gentle,...
in Tarpon Springs, Florida
Tarpon Springs, Florida
Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 21,003 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, the city had a population of 22,554....
. From July 9 to August 20, 2006, The Leepa-Rattner Museum presented “The Moving MADI World of Volf Roitman.” “The Roitman Gallery provides the real playground
Playground
A playground or play area is a place with a specific design for children be able to play there. It may be indoors but is typically outdoors...
” (Lennie Bennet in the St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
of 9 July 2006.)
Theatre, literature and movies
“As both an artist and a man, Uruguayan-born, Argentine-educated, and Parisian-nurtured Volf Roitman is as difficult to seize as a woodland faun; as impossible to define as his multi-faceted, constantly changing kinetic sculptures".
Since his childhood, Roitman was attracted by the arts. Child-actor, he played in radio theater and recited poems for the benefit of the Allies of World War II
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. From 1946 to 1950, he was member of theatre groups “Tinglado” and “La Cima.”Roitman began his professional life prosaically enough as a Buenos Aires architectural student. With a degree in hand, however, he quickly morphed into a poet, acting as the co-editor of a cutting-edge magazine called Poesía Buenos Aires. Still only 21 and sponsored by the French Embassy in Buenos Aires, he next found himself on a liner bound for France.
Architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and theater were cast to the ocean winds. Once in Paris, he decided, he would perfect his French at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
and become a novelist as famous as Sartre or Camus, with the vitriol of Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
thrown in for good measure. Fate in the form of fellow Uruguayan Carmelo Arden Quin would decide otherwise. Although master painter Arden Quin was 18 years older than his newest protégé, the duo soon functioned as complementary pieces of an avant-garde puzzle. Starting at the end of the 60s, MADI zigzagged in and out of Roitman’s life; on occasion, he wrote the prefaces for Arden Quin shows and mulled over the idea of making collages. Mostly, however, he returned to writing – turning out plays, novels and satirical political pamphlets. His childhood and teen’s love for the theatre stroked again and he wrote from 1956 to 1958 two experimental plays: CESQUETUCROY and THE PROFESSOR OMNIUM. About these works, André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
, wrote ”As much on the dramatic as the poetic level, your creation has made me discover a spring of utter beauty, one which is both wonderfully enveloped and ‘effervescently new.’” During a three-year stint in the United States, from 1958 to the end of 1960 he and his first wife Rita Parr formed the Ion Theatre Group. At the Orpheum Theater in New York, in October 1960, Roitman produced the prelude to his quirky MADI play THASWACHUTHINK! His New York paintings, including the series of Memory of Balanchine, the last visual works he produced until 1982, were shown in the hall of the theater.
(Certain scenes of play THASWACHUTHINK were staged once more, by Diana Forgioni, at the Leepa Rattner Museum in July 2006.)
Following his return to Paris, at the end of 1960, and until 1970, Roitman supported his artistic activities by forming a company specialized in model-making and design and in the installation of booths. He built three models reproducing Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
’s beaches and villages where Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
’s Army invasion took place, for the 20th Century film “The Longest Day
The Longest Day (film)
The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
”, and later, some of the largest (up to 55 square meters) architectural projects of this period.
In 1962, under the pseudonym Alvar Dazil, he published the novel “The Liquid Wall”, dealing with the plight of European refugees in South America after World War I. The same year, Roitman and Arden Quin launched “Ailleurs” http://hdl.handle.net/2345/1755 (8 issues until 1966) a French revue which published the latest in experimental art; and in the seventies, he also became involved in Parisian avant-garde film and literature.
In 1969, under the pseudonym Guillaume Roux, he wrote the play “Blue Like An Orange,” a prize-winner in the 1969 Enghien (France) Dramatic Art Competition.
In 1972, again under the pseudonym Guillaume Roux, he published the novel “The Amerloques” (The Yanks), a story of expatriate Americans in Paris, Presses de la Cité, Paris. From 1970 to 1982, together with his second wife Shelley Goodman, he was director of their film company Shelltrie Productions. An eclectic cinematographic career (productions of short films, script writing, introduction into France of films from Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, etc., distribution; owner of a 2-screen art house in the Beaubourg section of Paris)
1981: Published “Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza is a fictional character in the novel Don Quixote written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote, and provides comments throughout the novel, known as sanchismos, that are a combination of broad humour, ironic Spanish proverbs,...
in Feudal Country”, a pamphlet that became famous in the cinema profession, where Roitman denounced the abuses of the monopolistic cinema system of distribution circuits:
In 1985, under the pseudonym Dupond Dupont, he published another pamphlet: “D’Où Vient la M…” ( From Where the Sh…is Coming.) Roitman, invoking illustrious examples as Rabelais, uses the entire word.
(Certain scenes of play THASWACHUTHINK were staged once more, by Diana Forgioni, at the Leepa Rattner Museum in July 2006.)
Return to visual arts
The siren song of MADI called again. All of Roitman’s frenzied activity gradually gelled into an enduring passion for a particular style of architectural sculpture where each morsel of his past experience found its niche. Starting with a two-dimensional surface and using only a box-cutter and his own dexterity, he arrived at three-dimensionality – complex abstract sculpture pieces formed from a single sheet of paper. On the surface, this cutout and folded work from the early 80s and 90s might seem a derivative of Japanese origamiOrigami
is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in the 17th century AD at the latest and was popularized outside Japan in the mid-1900s. It has since then evolved into a modern art form...
, but in reality its complex and whimsical nature is closer to children’s pop-up books of the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
.
The magic of laser cutting
Laser cutting
Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to cut materials, and is typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, but is also starting to be used by schools, small businesses and hobbyists. Laser cutting works by directing the output of a high-power laser, by computer, at the...
soon led to metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
sculptures so delicately and intricately delineated that they were often mistaken for the paper collages that had preceded them ten years before. Roitman’s obsessions with asymmetry
Asymmetry
Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry.-In organisms:Due to how cells divide in organisms, asymmetry in organisms is fairly usual in at least one dimension, with biological symmetry also being common in at least one dimension....
and the ludico whimsical also found their way into MADI new concepts that he kept mastering. This led to the kinetic
Kinetic art
Kinetic art is art that contains moving parts or depends on motion for its effect. The moving parts are generally powered by wind, a motor or the observer. Kinetic art encompasses a wide variety of overlapping techniques and styles.-Kinetic sculpture:...
pieces he showed at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in 2002 and 2006…rotational towers and mural works, as geometric in form as sea anemones, swaying and grasping to the rhythm of unseen currents while curious organic
Organic matter
Organic matter is matter that has come from a once-living organism; is capable of decay, or the product of decay; or is composed of organic compounds...
parts open and close…The spectator has no need to walk around these sculptures; every facet will be revealed as color-drenched undulating forms change with each 360 degree turn the piece.
Roitman’s interests in literature, cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
also came together in his newest Project – large MADI “books” dedicated to The Celebration of Dissent, with Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
and Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
sharing places of honor with other revolutionaries – the serious and the less so.”