With the north at his feet. 80 years of Joaquín Torres García's map

Abstract

Summary
Throughout the history of cartography there were images that attempted to transgress and challenge traditional representations of the world, for example, Gall-Peters' projection in the 1970s. However, the greatest rupture was produced by the work of the Uruguayan artist Torres García 80 years ago with his map America Inverted from 1943, which is still valid today, especially in the political demands of Latin America. Indeed, we see this map, which continues to be an icon of the union of South America, represented in various media, including tattoos; however, many are unaware of its authorship. This text aims to make a small reflection on this work of art and its links with cartography, and investigate the figure of its author.