Share

Payment of the Argentine Foreign Debt to Andy Warhol with Corn, The Latin American Gold

By Luisa Leme

Marta Minujín's iconic 1985 photo-performance was restaged at Americas Society with remarks from the artist on March 26, 2024.

Speakers

  • Marta Minujín, artist
  • Aimé Iglesias Lukin, Director and Chief Curator, Art at Americas Society
  • Rebecca Shaykin, Associate Curator, Jewish Museum

How did Marta Minujín end up working with Andy Warhol on original version of a 1985 photo-performance of Payment of the Argentine Foreign Debt to Andy Warhol with Corn, The Latin American Gold?

"I was always interested in the media and him, too," she explained. "I was a queen in Argentina. He was a king in New York. I wanted to pay to him then," she said. So, she staged a performance where she handed Warhol gold-sprayed corn in a metaphorical representation of the economic exchange between their two countries.

On March 26 at Americas Society, Minujín updated the work to correspond to the contemporary situation. That included multiplying the amount of "Martas" and "Andys" to five apiece and repaying a debt that is "much higher now," she explained, with even more corn. 

Marta Minujín’s Payment of the Argentine Foreign Debt to Andy Warhol with Corn, The Latin American Gold was exhibited in Marta Minujín: Arte! Arte! Arte! at The Jewish Museum and was featured in El Dorado: Myths of Gold Part I at Americas Society.

Learn more about Art at Americas Society.