Carmen Buteler from Córdoba started out in textile art as a way to reconcile her role as a mother with her need to work on something she liked. Then, with the help of the sculptor Carlos Peiteado, she discovered painting and fell in love with color. Today, at 72 years old, she continues to experiment with various techniques and materials, from drawing and engraving to book objects and lithography. Her work is characterized by abstract expressionism that seeks to convey optimism and vital force.
Carmen Buteler was born in Córdoba in 1952 and graduated as an interior designer from the Lino Enea Spilimbergo School of Applied Arts, today the Provincial University of Córdoba, in 1972. She also studied architecture and trained in art history, composition and color theory. Between 1974 and 1983 she lived in the south of the country, where she worked as an interior designer and teacher at different educational levels.
Upon her return to Córdoba, in 1983, she looked for a new activity that would allow her to feel good and that would be compatible with caring for four small children. This is how he enrolled in a weaving workshop and dedicated himself to textile art, participating in exhibitions and national meetings. In 1985, at the Córdoba Fair Complex, she met again with the sculptor Carlos Peiteado, who had been his life drawing teacher and suggested that she start painting.
“Little by little I changed textiles for painting. Although I love textiles, they are two very different activities and it was impossible for me to sustain both. Although that does not mean that even today I return to textiles incorporating it into painting,” says Carmen, who defines her style as abstract expressionism.
Her innate curiosity and the need to express herself in the various series she is developing lead her to venture into various techniques, from drawing and painting to engraving, objects, book objects and lithography. To achieve this, she has attended various specialized workshops and clinics, both in Córdoba and Buenos Aires.
“I use various techniques as requested or demanded by each series and sometimes by each work in each series. It can be a drawing, a painting, a textile, a mixed technique, an object, a book object, an engraving…”, explains Carmen, who has also ventured into writing and poetry.
His work has been exhibited in numerous individual and group exhibitions, both in Argentina and abroad, and he has received several awards and recognitions. Currently, she is part of the group of artists at Galería 2020 in Buenos Aires, which emerged during the pandemic.
“What message or feeling do I want to convey with my art? Always optimism and strength to fight and move forward. Life is worth it,” says Carmen, an artist who fuses textiles and painting with expressiveness and color.
The artist wrote her book-object Entrelazar, a work that covers her artistic career through different languages and formats. The book, which has a circulation of 500 copies, includes an insert of her biography in Braille and 100 copies with an original photolithography signed and numbered by the author.
Carmen says that the idea of writing this book arose during the pandemic, in a personal meeting with Carla Rey, a friend and colleague. She had already been a visual artist for 37 years, with a more than solid body of work, numerous individual and group exhibitions in various places in Argentina and abroad. Some awards received. She participating in many National and International Shows. That is why the concern arose to capture all this in a book,” she explains.
Entrelazar is a book-object that not only contains images and texts, but also other elements that enrich the reader’s sensory experience, such as braille, photolithography, handmade paper and thread. The title refers to the concept of interweaving that runs through Carmen’s work, from her beginnings in textile art to her current experiments with painting, drawing, engraving, objects and lithography.
For the future, Carmen has several projects underway. On the one hand, she is finishing cataloging all of her work together with Belén Méndez, a task that takes a lot of time and dedication. On the other hand, she is dedicated to the task of disseminating her book in different spaces, holding an exhibition with some of the works that appear in the book. “I say some because there are more than 150 works published in the book. This is a daunting task and totally different from what putting together an exhibition can be like,” she says.
In addition, he continues to participate in various exhibitions and calls, whenever he has the time. Currently, she is part of the group of artists that make up Galería 2020 in Buenos Aires.
Buteler is an artist who does not settle for what is known, but constantly seeks new challenges and learning. Her work is characterized by abstract expressionism that seeks to convey optimism and vital force.
text Federico Velenski
Contact information
Web: www.carmenbuteler.com.ar
Instagram: @carmensilviabuteler
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by CEDOC