▶ Roberto Pignataro’s artistic books represent his own response to one of the most important legacies of the 1960s Argentine art scene: the search for new, more interactive ways to engage audiences with art. Between 1968 and 1974, he published three such works: A Través de Estampas (1968), En Slides Color (1972), and A Través de Estampas Vol. II (1974).

These were not conventional books about art, but artistic objects in their own right—portable formats through which abstract imagery could be experienced sequentially, beyond the limits of gallery exhibitions.

Across these publications, Pignataro explored what he called abstract storytelling: the idea that a sequence of non-representational images could suggest movement, mood, and narrative without relying on written explanation. By avoiding prefaces, manifestos, or verbal guidance, he allowed meaning to emerge from the viewer’s own encounter with the images.

The books also reflected his interest in expanding the circulation of his work. They were distributed through bookstores in Buenos Aires and mailed as promotional material to art-related institutions abroad, while En Slides Color pushed the format further by presenting sixteen 35mm slide abstractions intended to be projected.

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