A chess board in "Xul Solar and Jorge Luis Borges: The Art of Friendship," 2013. Courtesy the America Society.
Renowned Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1985) and painter and sometimes mystic Xul Solar (1887-1963) were best buddies in Buenos Aires in the 1920s and ’30s. They inspired each other’s work and collaborated on ambitious projects, such as inventing two new languages and re-conceptualizing the game of chess. A number of these endeavors are vividly illuminated here by Solar’s colorful Paul Klee-esque abstractions and several vitrines containing Borges’s early publications and other archival material. Organized by Americas Society visual arts director and chief curator Gabriela Rangel, “Xul Solar and Jorge Luis Borges: The Art of Friendship” captures an historical moment as well as a symbiotic relationship between artist and writer.