Doffo, Juan

He was born in Mechita, Buenos Aires Province, in 1948. He studied art at the National School of Fine Arts Prilidiano Pueyrredón. Since the late seventies, he has been dedicated to capturing landscapes in his works with an absolutely unique and distinctive style. References to Mechita, his hometown, are combined with alchemical elements and the presence of the component that will be key in the artist's production: fire. Its force, destructive and devastating yet magical and purifying, will be rescued by Doffo on numerous occasions. The citation to the past is recurrent in his production. Intimate and personal when he releases aspects of his childhood, he also knows how to stand on the episodes of humanity's almost mystical past, masterfully transferring the Pantheon of Agrippa or the great Gothic cathedrals to a fantastic space. From the eighties onwards, he began to use photography as an expressive medium. Always through direct shots, he will mix his works with installations and performances. In August 2003, he exhibited "Strange Substance," a series of photo performances in which he collaborated with the inhabitants of Mechita. Internationally, he exhibited individually and collectively in the United States, the Netherlands, and Germany. He received, among others, the First Mention of the "Bracque" Prize in 1978, the First Prize of the Association Friends of the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires in 1980, a Mention at the Miami Biennial in 1983, the First Prize of the Municipal Salon in 1986, the Second Prize of the Santa Fe Salon in 1988, the Second Prize of the National Salon in 1988, the First Mention of the Chandon Biennial in 1993, the First Mention of the "A & A" Magazine Prize in 1995, the Third Prize of the Cordoba Biennial in 1999, the Grand Prize of the Salta Biennial in 2000, the First Prize of the National Painting Salon, and the Grand Prize of the Maria Calderón de la Barca Foundation in 2008.