The square in front of the MAC was renamed in honor of its historic director Francisco Brugnoli – 2024-07-30 06:34:11 – 2024-07-30 06:37:14 – 2024-07-30 06:38:48 – 2024-07-30 06:40:19 – 2024-07-30 06:42:21

This Sunday, July 28, 2024, the plaza located in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the University of Chile in Parque Forestal was officially renamed “Plazoleta Francisco Brugnoli Bailoni”, in honor of the man who served as its director for more than twenty years, between 1998 and 2021, reported Casa de Bello.

The ceremony, which took place one day before the first anniversary of his death, was led by the Rector of the University of Chile, Rosa Devés; by the director of the MAC, Daniel Cruz; the councilor of the Municipality of Santiago, Virginia Palma, representing the mayor Irací Hassler; and by the family of the prominent artist and academic of the Casa de Bello.

This is a recognition that was proposed to the Illustrious Municipality of Santiago on September 8, 2023 by the Vice-Rector for Outreach and Communications of the University of Chile, Pilar Barba; the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Fernando Carrasco; and the Director of the MAC, Daniel Cruz; who were supported by Gregorio Brugnoli Errázuriz on behalf of the family. The idea was unanimously approved by the Municipal Council at its 29th ordinary session, held on October 18, 2023.

“The inauguration of the Francisco Brugnoli Bailoni Square gives the city his wholehearted and supportive spirit. It honors the memory and legacy of one of the main exhibitors and pioneers of the experimental art avant-garde in Chile, a teacher of generations, a builder of institutions and an example of what it means to be truly university-educated. He was a teacher until the end of his days, not only of artists, architects and theorists, but also a teacher of freedom, of the ability to resist, to be reborn, to dream and to strive for more,” said Rector Devés.

For her part, the mayor of Santiago, Irací Hassler Jacob, said that “we are very happy to be part of this tribute to Professor Francisco Brugnoli, an outstanding manager and promoter of culture in our country and, in addition, a resident of the Parque Forestal neighborhood of our commune.” “A well-deserved recognition of the career of this artist and academic who was director of the Museum of Contemporary Art for 23 years. That is why we are proud to be able to inaugurate the Francisco Brugnoli Square in this neighborhood that he walked through daily developing his professional, artistic and neighborhood life giving all his human quality,” she added.

The plaza will now pay tribute to the man who was a prominent visual artist, artistic figure and academic historian of the University of Chile. He has been highlighted by art historians and critics as one of the precursors of object art in the country, as well as one of the main exponents of the Chilean artistic avant-garde of the second half of the 20th century, and his work has been exhibited in the main museums and art centers in Santiago, Berlin, New York, Madrid, Mexico and Buenos Aires, among others.

Trajectory

His role as director of the MAC, a task he held for 23 years, was characterized by the collective exhibitions he held, always betting on young artists, even opening the first exhibition of graduates of the Master of Visual Arts at the University of Chile. He also led the restoration of the Parque Forestal building; created the Quinta Normal headquarters; and brought in exhibitions of important international artists, such as Yoko Ono (1998), Spencer Tunick (2002), the Fluxus movement (2005) and Michelangelo Pistoletto (2018).

“The plaza that we inaugurated today strongly symbolizes some of the premises of the direction of our beloved Professor Francisco Brugnoli at the MAC. When we talk about plazas, we talk about public spaces, dialogues, conversations and exchanges. That is precisely what Prof. Brugnoli promoted for the MAC: to be a meeting place between the community and culture, between the public and the academy. These are some of the notions that accompany us to this day and that remind us of the important legacy of the man who directed the museum for 21 years,” said the director of the MAC, Daniel Cruz.

Among the recognitions he received during his lifetime are the Rector’s Medal of the University of Chile (2022), the Rector Juvenal Hernández Jaque Medal Distinction, mention in Arts, Letters and Humanities (2011) and the Valentín Letelier Medal (2005).

The ceremony was also attended by his wife and son: Virginia Errázuriz and Pablo Brugnoli.

“As a family, we deeply appreciate this tribute from the Municipality of Santiago and the University of Chile one year after the death of Francisco Brugnoli Bailoni, who crossed this plaza that today bears his name hundreds of times; as an art student; as a visual artist, director of the MAC, professor and neighbor. It is a recognition that not only honors his memory, but also highlights his contribution to the visual arts, education and culture through his beloved University of Chile. This tribute serves as a testament to his dedication and his lasting impact on future generations,” said Pablo Brugnoli on behalf of the family.

An illustrious son of Bello

“A university museum is responsible for putting the spectator in trouble, and that is only one of its missions; we have the obligation to question the limits of knowledge, that is to open spaces and create other possibilities for the world,” said Professor Brugnoli himself regarding his work at the MAC, according to Palabra Pública.

Before heading the MAC, he served as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts between 1966 and 1974, the year in which he was exonerated by the civil-military dictatorship. It was during this period that he led the group “Los Diablos”, an artistic and political movement linked to pop art. Before becoming an academic, he entered the School of Fine Arts at the Casa de Bello in 1959 as a student.

In the early 1980s he completed postgraduate studies at the International University of Art, Florence, Italy. During the dictatorship he created spaces for meeting around art and the recovery of democracy, creating the Visual Arts Workshop (TAV) and the Fine Arts degree at the Arcis University in 1983, being its Director until 1992. He also participated in the Andrés Bello Cultural University Association, as an exonerated academic.

With the fall of the dictatorship, Brugnoli returned as a professor to the University of Chile in 1992, specifically to the Department of Fine Arts. He also taught at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Chile, and at the School of Art (1990) and the School of Design (1966-1970) of the Catholic University.

“I think it will be very difficult for me to leave teaching,” said Professor Brugnoli in 2022, when he received the Rector’s Medal from the University of Chile, where he was also vice-dean of the Faculty of Arts, member of the University Senate and first Vice-Rector for Outreach. “I think it is the most pleasant space I have had in my life at the University. Being a teacher and repeating sanctioned knowledge seems like a drag to me, but thinking that everything is possible in another way is very entertaining, it is very seductive, everything can be different, nothing has to be the way they tell you,” he added.

Currently, the MAC is exhibiting the works “El aborto” (Abortion) (1969), “NN” (1979), and two untitled silkscreens by his authorship to pay tribute to him.