Written drawings by Ferrari are both drawings as texts and texts as drawings. Typically realized in an overflowing, ornate, and dramatic calligraphy, they feature sarcastic and politically loaded poems masterfully transcribed by the artist. Here Ferrari eloquently describes a statue he would like to create of Lyndon B. Johnson, then president of the United States. "Como Dios cuando mando sus arcángeles marinos a pelear contra los diablos" (As God when he sent his marine archangels to fight against the devils), the artist writes. The political irony with which Ferrari equates Johnson to God must be understood in the context of the artist's militant stance against American colonialism in Latin America and the Vietnam War.

Gallery label from

Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960–1980, September 5, 2015–January 3, 2016.

Medium Ink on paper
Dimensions 39 1/4 x 27 7/8" (99.7 x 70.8 cm)
Credit Gift of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros through the Latin American and Caribbean Fund in honor of Connie Butler
Object number 268.2009
Department Drawings and Prints

Explore more

León Ferrari

León Ferrari

Argentine, 1920–2013 229 works online

What is the political capacity of art? How should artists address injustice and violence? In 1965, the Argentine artist León Ferrari had a clear answer to these questions: “Art will be neither beauty nor novelty; art will be efficacy and agitation.

Learn more →
All works by León Ferrari →

From MoMA Design Store

Installation views

We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.

How we identified these works
In 2018–19, MoMA collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a project using machine learning to identify artworks in installation photos. That project has concluded, and works are now being identified by MoMA staff.

If you notice an error, please contact us at [email protected].
Licensing
To reproduce installation views, please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations). You will need to include the object identification number found in the caption.
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].

Licensing

Artwork or archival images

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

Audio and film clips

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.

Text from a publication or the archives

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].

Feedback

This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.