DEL INFINITO

Buenos Aires | Argentina
Director| Estela Gismero y Julián Mizrahi

Galería del Infinito is an experimental space that exhibits and supports new disciplines, media, and technological avant-gardes applied to art. Since its founding, Del Infinito has hosted a wide variety of exhibitions dedicated to leading figures from some of Argentina’s most significant avant-garde movements, including Raúl Lozza, Enio Iommi, Clorindo Testa, Julio Le Parc, Carmelo Arden Quin, and Alberto Greco, artists whose works have engaged in harmonious dialogue with those of younger generations. Viewing the gallery as a pedagogical unit, Del Infinito collaborates on numerous projects that foster exchange, reflection, and interest in contemporary art. The gallery is a member of Meridiano, the Argentine Chamber of Contemporary Art Galleries.

www.delinfinito.com

ESTE FOCUS

Booth walkthrough with the artist
Leo Battistelli

In Spanish, without translation.
Open to the public.

Date: TBD
Time: TBD
Venue: Pavilion VIK
Ruta 10, Km 182.5, José Ignacio

CURATORIAL

Fuerzas Primordiales
From a sensibility deeply attuned to the Earth’s energy, Leo Battistelli proposes an artistic practice that unfolds as an act of communion with Nature. His work emerges from direct engagement with the territories he inhabits, from the shores of the Paraná River in Rosario to the lush Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro, and materializes as a testimony to the vital interdependence between human beings and their environment. In this site-specific project for ESTE ARTE 2026, Battistelli invites us to recognize the primordial force that resides in all forms of life, the invisible energy that sustains existence and manifests through the elements. Each piece becomes an extension of the landscape, a channel translating the world’s breath into tangible matter. The artist works with organic materials and environmentally respectful processes, affirming an ethic of making that unites art, ecology, and spirituality. His pursuit seeks to give form to the intangible, to crystallize the inexplicable nature of the universe into works that act as shields, bridges, and activators, shields that protect us from ignorance, bridges that expand perception, and activators that awaken our capacity to create in harmony with what is essential. The result is a constellation of works that transcend representation to become experiences of connection, invitations to perceive beauty as a regenerative and transformative force.

BIO

Leo Battistelli (Argentine, b. 1972) studied Sculpture at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario, later specializing in ceramics with Leo Tavella. Since 1993, he has exhibited extensively in Argentina, Brazil, the U.S., and France, at institutions including Museo Castagnino/MACRO, Fundación Klemm, MALBA, MAM São Paulo, and Fundación PROA. In 2013, his monumental work Temperantia was commissioned by Chandon for arteBA. Now based in Rio de Janeiro, Battistelli continues to develop a practice rooted in natural elements—particularly water and earth—through an alchemical lens that evokes identity, ritual, and celebration. His works are included in collections such as Eduardo Costantini, MACRO, and MALBA, among others. His use of color frequently references the exuberant tones of candombe, linking material and cultural heritage.

CURATORIAL

For ESTE ARTE 2026, 12th edition, Del Infinito presents Marcela Cabutti’s project “El Sonido de la Piedra”, conceived especially for the public of ESTE ARTE and Uruguay. The 2023 video, which won the Argentine National Salon, records the “Piedra Movediza” of Balcarce—a 2.2-billion-year-old rock rediscovered during the pandemic. By placing clay pebbles and microphones at its fulcrum, visitors generated rhythmic images and sounds of fissures, producing an igneous “awakening.” The cavernous reverberation becomes a heartbeat, vibrating through body and time. This work offers both a poetic and scientific meditation on permanence and fragility, extending Cabutti’s exploration of landscape, sound, and material memory.

BIO

Marcela Cabutti (Argentine, b. 1967) earned degrees in Sculpture and Art History from the Universidad Nacional de La Plata. She trained with Luis F. Benedit and Pablo Suárez at the Taller de Barracas (Fundación Antorchas), completed a Master in Design and Bionics at IED in Milan, and participated in international residencies including Delfina (London), Duende (Rotterdam), and Columbus College of Art & Design (glass). Her career spans three decades of experimentation across sculpture, glass, installation, and video, informed by her deep engagement with natural processes and material transformation. Cabutti has coordinated residencies, curated projects, and received major awards, including the Argentine National Salon (2023).

BIO

Esteban Pastorino (1972, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine artist known for his innovative photographic work. He graduated as a mechanical technician from the Otto Krause School and studied mechanical engineering at the University of Buenos Aires. Pastorino also pursued studies in advertising photography at the Instituto Fotodesign and participated in workshops led by Juan Travnik and Fabiana Barreda. His artistic practice has been shaped by residencies at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam and the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid.

One of his most recognized works is a series of aerial photographs, where he designs and builds a small cardboard camera, which he mounts on a kite, aircraft, or elevated platforms. The camera produces intentionally blurred images, mimicking shallow depth of field and offering a bird’s-eye view of landscapes. This effect evokes dioramas, creating a curiosity that leads viewers to question whether the scenes are real or miniature models.

Pastorino’s work has been exhibited in various institutions across the Americas and Europe, including the Museo de Arte Moderno in Buenos Aires, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Medellín, and the XI Biennial of Cuenca. He has received numerous accolades, including awards from the Argentine Association of Art Critics and UNESCO, as well as fellowships from Fundación Konex and the National Arts Fund. Pastorino lives and works in La Plata, Buenos Aires.

CURATORIAL

The Panorámicas series marks a pivotal evolution in Esteban Pastorino's long-standing exploration of panoramic photography, a journey that began in 1999 and culminated during his residency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam (2004-2005). The series features expansive panoramic photographs captured with a custom-built camera designed by the artist himself. This unique "Slit" camera allows the film to move continuously while the shutter remains open, creating uninterrupted, long-exposure images that the human eye cannot replicate.

Pastorino employs this innovative technique in various ways: mounting the camera on a tripod with automatic rotational movement, synchronizing it with the movement of subjects or vehicles such as cars, trains, and boats. These photographs are taken across diverse cities in Asia, Europe, and America, documenting urban landscapes in a form that defies traditional photographic boundaries.

In 2012, Pastorino set a Guinness World Record for creating the longest photographic negative at 39.54 meters. In 2011, he achieved another milestone by capturing a 305-meter long photograph in New York City. Over time, Pastorino has expanded his technical approach, incorporating digital cameras and drones into the Panorámicas series, adding a new dimension to his ongoing investigation of space, movement, and time.

Through these expansive and immersive works, Pastorino challenges the limits of perception, inviting viewers into a continuous, almost cinematic experience of the world.