This essay by Murilo Mendes appeared in the exhibition catalogue for work by the sculptor Maria Martins at the MAM-RJ (Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro) in 1956. Mendes thinks the uniqueness of her work arises from a confrontation at a subconscious level, and from the inherent challenges posed by the genre in which she works. He admits that not all of her solutions satisfy him, although he admires her attempts to apply the concept of “automatism” to hard materials such as stone, wood, and metal. Her sculpture should not be judged on the basis of criteria such as “good taste,” since she is not interested in expressing a strictly aesthetic point of view; they should be viewed in metaphysical terms. Mendes underscores the sexuality (a constant feature of her sculpture) that is a fundamental element in the works he reviews, describing their contrasting oval and straight forms. According to Mendes, Brazil is a surreal country. 

Maria Martins (1894–1973) is undoubtedly one of the few Brazilian artists to have had a personal association with the Surrealist movement. When she was living in New York in the 1940s, she was in touch with members of the movement, such as the writer André Breton and the artists Marcel Duchamp, Yves Tanguy, and Max Ernest. At that time, Martins worked with organic forms to create bronze sculpture inspired by Amazonian myths and psychological conflicts of a passionate or sexual nature. Among the reviews of her work, this one by Murilo Mendes is noteworthy because it highlights the connections she makes between the content and subject matter chosen by “Maria.” The poet interprets her sculptural goals in Surrealist terms, discussing the challenges involved in such an approach.

A poet who emerged from the Brazilian modernist movement in the 1920s, Murilo Mendes was also a well-known art critic (in the 1940s) who focused mainly on Surrealist and abstract poetry. In the 1960s—by which time he was the cultural attaché at the Brazilian Embassy in Italy—he turned his critical eye on Kinetic art, which was in vogue in Europe at the time.

[As complementary reading, see the following articles in the ICAA digital archive: (untitled) [“Amazonia. Every year (…)”] (doc. no. 1110396); by André Breton (untitled) [“L’esprit, durant ces dernières années (…)”] (doc. no. 1110397); by Clement Greenberg “Review of a Group Exhibition at the Art of This Century Gallery, and the Exhibitions of Maria Martins and Luis Quintanilla” (doc. no. 1110399); by Benjamin Péret (untitled) [“Nada evoca tanto quanto a obra de Maria (…)”] (doc. no. 1110398); and by Jorge Zarur “The Legend of the origin” (doc. no. 1110400)].