Co-edited with Miguel A. López in the framework of the exhibition of the same name, presented simultaneously at the Museo de Arte de Lima – MALI and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima MAC-Lima, this book is the first publication devoted entirely to the work of Francesco Mariotti and María Luy: six decades of artistic and cultural production traversing continents, languages, and disciplines.
One central challenge for this publication was one of scale. The Mariotti–Luy Archive, held on long-term loan at MALI since 2017, comprises more than fifteen linear meters of documentation —photographs, correspondence, sketches, posters, films, programmes, computational poems, manifestos— alongside an extensive body of works across widely varied media. Rather than attempting an exhaustive catalogue, we opted for a structure that functions as an invitation to explore this pluriverse: an extended curatorial essay, the product of more than a decade of joint research; a portfolio of works that also includes ephemeral projects documentation of significant historical value; a series of original essays —by Mijail Mitrovic, Almendra Otta, Giuliana Vidarte, Emilia Curatola, Rosalyn Chávarry, and a foundational text by Gustavo Buntinx three decades ago on the work of Mariotti—; a section of appendices gathering key documents, manifestos, and interviews; and a detailed chronology.
The recent passing of Francesco Mariotti during the editorial process transformed the character of the book, which became also a tribute. This publication only begins to reveal the richness of a practice that will continue to generate new readings and new wonder in the years to come.
