Alejandro Kuropatwa

(Buenos Aires, 1956–2003)

Alejandro Kuropatwa captured with his camera the spirit of an era: Argentina in the post-dictatorship period of the 1980s and the excesses of the Menem era in the 1990s. Restless, charismatic, and irreverent, he cultivated a personality that has been considered inseparable from his work.

He studied photography in New York at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Parsons School of Design. In 1985, he returned to Buenos Aires and set up his own studio, where he portrayed countless figures from the worlds of art, culture, and rock music.

Diagnosed with HIV, his early works addressed the proximity of death through a dramatic and self-referential approach. In 1996, with the advent of antiretroviral medication, he created his «Cocktail» series, one of the most emblematic works of Argentine art addressing the fight against AIDS. From then on, he turned to large-scale color photography, and his images acquired a more ironic tone.

Kuropatwa exhibited his work at some of the most significant venues in the art circuit. In 2002, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes presented «Manifiesto», a major retrospective of his work. The following year, he died in Buenos Aires.