Saying goodbye to a friend and celebrating his talent: the exhibition that became a tribute to Juan Lecuona

It's rare that an exhibition that's been in the works for over a year ends up being a heartfelt tribute to an artist after his sudden death. This happened with Juan Lecuona , who died on August 2, and his "Suspended Seams ," the exhibition scheduled to open on the 6th at the Rojas Cultural Center gallery. Many friends were there, mostly artists, from his beloved Carlos Arnaiz and Mónica Canzio , Osvaldo Monzo, Matilde Marín, Héctor Médici, Zulema Maza, and Marino Santamaria, among many others. Américo Castilla said a few words.

His gallery owner, Jorge Mara, remained with his wife, María, his brother, and his sister-in-law. At some point, they met Nora Iniesta , Eduardo Stupía , Claudia Aranovich, Guillermo Mac Loughlin, Mercedes Parodi, Lux Lindner, María Teresa Cibils, and Paula Otegui.

Curator María José Herrera , writer María Sonia Cristoff, and playwright Cecilia Propatto were present. They all shared the moment, which was also a moving farewell, with stories of shared memories and a truly fond remembrance of a close friend.

Suspended Seams is the title that Juan Lecuona (1956-2025), together with the curator Daniela Zattara , had chosen to exhibit a selection of works from the 90s with a few more resonances of the early 2000s, along with a series of acetates that had never been seen before , founding a journey through a recognizable essence of Lecuona. It was an opportunity to see again the female figures contained in that work of layers of molds, paint and recovery of the background of a stylized figure by very textured lines made with a black brush. Or the tones of his large-scale works in which a solid balance of figure and background works, with a very singular vibration of the line as an imprint of the drawing.

Juan had previously exhibited several works in this gallery. Traveling back and forth between São Paulo and Buenos Aires , he developed this selection, which allows us to clearly understand him in this text: "Lecuona deploys a new visual vocabulary without abandoning his pictorial rigor or his desire to explore. The glazes, the transparencies, the carefully crafted textures continue to give shape to a body of work that never stood still."

As published on the day of his death , Juan is a member of what was defined as the Intermediate Generation , which burst onto the scene in the early 1980s, renewing traditional paradigms not only of circulation but also of art production, incorporating techniques, broadening horizons and fostering authentic diversity, which grew in the refreshing air that the end of the dictatorship and the beginning of democracy in Argentina implied . This bias clearly affects the generational need of the emerging ones to speak from their own experiences, in what was also defined as New Subjectivism .

Humor defined him in life and is also exemplified in a few titles, such as a 1996 work that shines beautifully in the gallery. "Exquisita princessita malcriada que habita el palacio de mi fallo es casi una letra de tango" (Exquisite spoiled little princess who inhabits the palace of my failure is almost a tango lyric ). In "Ana O " (The exquisite spoiled little princess who inhabits the palace of my failure is almost a tango lyric), a warm tone predominates with pasty blue accents that stand out sharply in the black line that describes the female silhouette in profile. He also used mirroring, the schematic form of the silhouette cut out in gray against a warm background, or in a paint job that achieves a surface that clearly reveals a series of layer-upon-layer interventions, in a size that imposes presence. These are his " Angel of the Morning" series from 1998. The curator told Ñ that these works had not been exhibited since the Recoleta exhibition in the 1990s.

There is also a segment of collage and small-format prints , more from the early 2000s, almost a language of his own, with very schematic and beautiful forms. Some of these works were part of the retrospective exhibition at the Museo de Bellas Artes in Neuquén , others at the Emilio Caraffa in Córdoba, and the last retrospective in 2015 at the Museo Franklin Rawson in San Juan , where he presented the solo exhibition Bifurcaciones, Works from 1984-2014.

The exhibition was delayed due to the artist's trip to Paris to accompany his wife, María, on a project. It was supposed to have a photo gallery in addition to the gallery, but the exhibition itself couldn't be postponed. The exhibition is a highly reflective display of his most distinctive work.

That cold Wednesday was a true tribute , felt in the exchange of hugs, in the voices moved by the unexpected event we were experiencing. It was shared by those who remembered their daily calls to find out how they were feeling. It was Américo Castilla , one of those close people on a daily basis, who bid farewell with an introduction and a poem.

"Saying goodbye to a friend and celebrating his talent is doubly loving when it's done in the company of those who loved and admired him most. While it reminds us that we are not eternal, I can swear that his lifetime was joyful for him and for those of us who shared his affection. First and foremost, María, his partner; his family: José, Patricia and his nephews; his extended family, Santiago and Mónica; Lorena, his assistant; and the Nada Club group, which Juan founded and which brought us together for lunches thanks to his persistence in enjoying our collective friendship.

He also defined it from an ethical perspective, something that was also a hallmark of the Intermediate Generation. "Juan lived art and found his humor more joyful. His fear that art would end up being just another retail transaction drove him to reject trends and present his works in a genuine and personal way, without giving in to the siren song—not the siren song of Ulysses, which never reached Argentina, but rather those that emerged from the consumer art factories."

To conclude: "His death is difficult to process. As he would sarcastically say when faced with some bad situation: 'There was no need.' Our need, we realize, is for his friendship. How can we define that need, that gap of pain, that love of his dearest friends?

Eduardo Médici said goodbye to him on social media with such sincerity that it also reveals the way they respected each other.

I'm so sorry I'm not in your show, Juan. I imagine the applause waiting for you to come on stage so they can hug you again, but this time you left the table set and left early. Your emptiness will make your presence stronger in each of us. I miss you, my friend!