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Alberto Greco
Alberto Greco is an Argentinian artist most known for his role in the 60’s avant-garde art movement. As part of this movement his artwork was at the forefront of critiquing the current governing system as oppressing the people into subjugation. His theory was “vivo ditto”, an expression of what is real, what is happening around you at the moment, capturing the now. Through this type of artistic expression creative action takes place, it provokes the people to examine their lives, their society and their government. Listen, here, now! This idea that you can capture the moment, cinematographically, through reportage so that the art becomes a living testament to the actual moment in which it occurs, coming to life.

The happening of the moment was important to Greco to emphasize how to influence society, how to push people into action against the ruling elite. The harsh censorship of Ongonia on every aspect of life brought about the closure of the Instituto Di Tella for exhibiting an artwork featuring a urinal. It was considered to be offensive and thus the most famous avant-garde cultural center in Latin America was shut down. Alberto Greco advocates a kind of art that will provoke the people to talk about their reality, their world, what is happening to their lives, society, government and politics. It was his strategy to promote a change that came about from within audience themselves. There is a strong expressionist component to Greco, one that is linked in recording the moment, the now, capturing what is taking place around him at the very moment he experiences different events. This new genre, this new artistic movement compelled to capturing the now, the moment in which events actually happen was supposed to promote a change in the viewers, a call to action.

Alberto Greco was born in Buenos Aires in 1931. He never finished art school but instead began to learn under the instruction of Cecilia Marcovich and Thomas Maldonado, two prominent art figures in the Argentinian art circles. During 1947 and 1948 Alberto Greco assisted within these art schools and was influenced by these artists’ social perspectives. Argentina during the 1960’s was suffering from a repressive government under Ongonia, who ousted Peron, the previous dictator.

Selected Artworks
"Thirty Mice for the New Generation" 1962 and "Vivo Dittos" 1963-1965. These artworks were well known because it was art that took place on the streets mainly, especially for Greco's Vivo Dittos

Analysis of Artworks
Greco's Vivo Dittos are an expression of his political opinions utilized through a form of artwork that is performed and captured on the streets. Many times this encompassed his holding up a sign and photographing himself, standing on the sidewalk or on the roadway. Greco spent much of his short-lived career protesting Argentina's government and social circumstances but what has been largely remembered of his work is this concept of vivo ditto expressed through a written work of his own, a manifesto. Greco's manifesto expresses Vivo Ditto as art of the adventure of the real, the urgent document, the direct and total contact with things, places, people, creating situations, creating the unexpected. It means showing and encountering the object in its own place. Totally in accord with cinema, reportage and literature as a living document. "Let us hope that the activities of Vivo Ditto will turn things inside out so that the audience will do the talking. We must not forget that Vivo Ditto is above all the adventure of the real and of the direct contact with things."