Vivid perspectives in six strokes.

• Author: de Gallo, Maria Gowland
• Position: Six Argentine artists stage exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia

Six Argentine artists of varied and intense personalities showed their works from May 17 to June 14 at the Novus Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia, in an exhibition sponsored by that city's Argentine consul. All of the artists -- Ines Bancalari, Nicolas Leiva, Matilde Marin, Carlos Regazzoni, Francisco Ruiz and Lucrecia Orloff -- have won national and international recognition and have exhibited in group and individual shows throughout the world.

It was their generation's lot to undergo a period of upheaval and change as Argentina passed through an acute political, economic and social crisis, and thus to be plunged into a continuing search for a true identity. While the artists share the qualities of originality, excellence and technical expertise, that search takes a different form in each.

The work of Ines Bancalari deserves special attention. In the forward of a recent book on Bancalari, the renowned Argentine art critic, Rafael Squirru, describes her contribution to the contemporary art world. "Her work is among the most interesting of her generation," comments Squirru. "Behind an apparently sweet and extremely feminine exterior, there lurks an iron will and tenacity."

After studying in Europe, New York and Buenos Aires, Bancalari traveled to several continents to study specific at periods and styles. Her artistic career has traversed several stages over the years. Vigorous use of the spatula achieves texture and body in her still lifes, nudes and landscapes of the late seventies. Her figurative representation then evolves into the drawings of the Viejos (old ones) and sketches for Chekhov's Ivanov essays, powerful interpretations of a classical dramatic work. Her most recent paintings are characterized by images which springs from the subconscious; their expressionist tendency is unmistakable.

Bancalari's journey leads from concrete reality and its miseries to an almost mystical subjectivity. Despite having been stylistically influenced by her mentors, the artist affirms her independence by saying, "I believe in African art, in the art of the Cyclades, of the Olmecs, in all the "ism" that pour out of Europe and the United States. But I believe much more in what's before my nose and at my fingertips."

Carlos Regazzoni could be dubbed the quinquela Martin (Argentine artist of the Impressionist period) of the railroad. Inspired by this steely subject matter, he creates lybyrinthine paintings which, in his own words, "render homage to all...