Antonio Berni: Juanito and Ramona

Organized to accompany an exhibition, this book presents a comprehensive survey of the Juanito and Ramona series by Argentinean Antonio Berni in an attempt to bring this under-recognized artist to greater attention. The 270 sumptuous color reproductions provide a convincing testament to Berni's great talent in a variety of mediums ranging from painting and collage to assemblage, as well as the provoking social narratives he imagined for his characters: Juanito%E2%80%94a boy living in a Shantytown%E2%80%94and Ramona, a prostitute. The essays in this volume discuss Berni's relationship to realism and trends in European and American art, however, an overreliance on art jargon and repetitive discussions on realism and marginalized groups often results in unwieldy and overwrought texts. However, Michael Wellen's "Reaching New Jersey: Antonio Berni in the United States" presents a concise and lucid summary of Berni's relationship to America that comes as a relief after the other meandering attempts to interweave biography and theory. (Jan.)