Plastic Exercise (Ejercicio plástico, 1933) is one of the most radical and visually striking works by David Alfaro Siqueiros. Unlike his explicitly political murals in Mexico and the United States, this fresco, painted in Argentina, is an exploration of femininity that blends spiritual themes. The work was executed in the underground chamber of Los Granados, the country estate of the influential Argentinian publisher Natalio Botana, with the collaboration of Argentine artists Lino Enea Spilimbergo, Antonio Berni, and Juan Carlos Castagnino, along with the Uruguayan scenographer Enrique Lázaro.

Siqueiros’s experimental approach in Plastic Exercise reflects his radical vision for muralism. He and his team utilized non-traditional materials, including industrial paints, photographic projections, and airbrush techniques, anticipating later developments in kinetic and multimedia art. The composition, which extends across the walls, ceiling, and floor, creates an immersive environment that engulfs the viewer, challenging the conventional boundaries of mural painting.

A key feature of the mural is the repeated depiction of Blanca Luz Brum (1905–1985), a Uruguayan poet and political activist who was Siqueiros’s wife at the time. The multiple portrayals of Brum merge with broader symbolic associations between femininity, spirituality, and transformation—motifs frequently explored in both esoteric movements and political iconography. This thematic connection is also evident in Montenegro’s The Unity of Latin America, included in this exhibit, where Latin America is personified as a woman, reinforcing the fusion of gendered allegories with spirituality.

The presence of Antonio Berni in the project adds another layer of complexity. Berni, an Argentine painter and socialist realist, was closely associated with Lelio Zeno (1890–1935), a medical doctor who attempted to synthesize Theosophy and Communism. Zeno, known for his articles praising Annie Besant, Vladimir Lenin, and Leon Trotsky, argued that Bolshevism and Theosophy were parallel revolutionary forces—one operating in the material world, the other in the spiritual realm. His influence in Argentine leftist and esoteric circles raises intriguing questions about the ideological environment surrounding the mural’s creation.

Though Plastic Exercise remains a unique and anomalous work in Siqueiros’s oeuvre, it encapsulates his pursuit of innovation and his willingness to push the limits of muralism beyond the constraints of political propaganda. The fresco not only reveals his fascination with experimental techniques but also places him—perhaps unintentionally—at the intersection of Latin American leftist movements and esoteric networks that, at the time, sought to redefine the relationship between art, spirituality, and revolution.