Bony, Oscar

Known for making and showing innovative and daring work, in Sebastián (1976), Oscar Bony depicts a male nude body, yet the figure is nearly unrecognizable as it is enmeshed in swaths of bold color in seemingly painterly strokes. Only the male genitalia remains in sharp view. Bony’s choice of focal point in this image speaks to his larger interest in confronting status quo views on gender, sexuality, and politics. As part of the Pictures Generation of artists, such as James Welling, John Baldessari, and Cindy Sherman, Bony asks us to look at images carefully, to consider their construction, and to question our preferences for beauty and the purpose of our gaze.

Oscar Bony was born in Posadas, Argentina, where he graduated from Colegio de Posadas. He trained under Lucas Braulio Areco and studied at the Escuela Preparatoria de Bellas Artes. He additionally trained at the Instituto Torcuato di Tella in Buenos Aires, and took classes at the Demetrio Urruchua and Juan Carlos Castagnino’s studios. Still, he considered himself a self-taught artist. Later in life, he transitioned from art to photography, dealing primarily with the theme of violence. Bony’s work was the subject of a retrospective, Oscar Bony: el Mago, at the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires from November 2007 to February 2008.