The Brazilian critic Frederico Morais presents a copy of Nelson Leirner’s letter to the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper in which the latter discusses the works he submitted to the IV Salão de Arte Moderna in Brasília (1967), one of which consisted of a dissected pig. Leirner claimed that there was a difference between the animal and the industrial product which, in his opinion, represented a social process that encouraged viewers to become more aware of themselves and their situation. He never intended, he said, to make fun of anything or take any kind of license; his goal was merely to raise awareness of reality. He admits that he tried to expose his work beyond the confines of Brasília through the same media used by the critics—the press—and expresses his disappointment that the replies had taken such a personal approach rather than pursuing a serious discussion about aesthetic(s). Morais believes the episode could be thought of as “a happening,” using the term that Leirner also used. Morais then goes on to champion the avant-gardes while referring to the conservative tone of the critique written by Geraldo Ferraz in response to the works of art at the exhibition.         

Nelson Leirner (b. 1932) poses a question in his article—“Qual critério?”—published in the Jornal da Tarde (São Paulo, December 21, 1967). He identifies the jury’s criteria for choosing his work—entitled Matéria e Forma (1965)— at the IV Salão de Arte Moderna do Distrito Federal held in 1967 in Brasília, which sparked the so-called Critic’s Happening; that is, the critics’ string of responses to his challenge. One of the works sent to the Salão consisted of a dissected pig behind wooden bars with a ham tied around its throat.    

Geraldo de Barros (1923?98), another artist of Leirner’s generation, wrote about a group exhibition in 1965 at which Leirner showed Pop Art works [see doc. no. 1110440]. The debate concerning the value of the work of art (in aesthetic and market terms) continued to be the key point in Leirner’s anti-system work.

The art critic Frederico Morais (b. 1936), a consistent advocate for the avant-gardes, organized the Salão de Brasília and was a member of the jury. He published Leirner’s letter and, in his reply, defended avant-garde art in his articles “Como julgar uma obra de arte,” which was published in the Diário de notícias (Rio de Janeiro, January 14, 1968), and “Porco e aposentadoria” [Pig and Pension], which appeared in the Diário de notícias (Rio de Janeiro, February 4, 1968).

This article shows the conflicting positions taken by Morais and the critic Geraldo Ferraz (1905–79), to whom both Leirner and Morais were replying. In a newspaper article published in O Estado de S. Paulo (São Paulo, January 28, 1968), Ferraz attacks the jury’s decision to accept Leirner’s work for the exhibition.

The term “happening” was subsequently used to refer to this episode that came to be known in Brazil as the Critic’s Happening. In 1959 the critic Mário Pedrosa (1900–81) had published an article about critical trends, in addition to the article in which he analyzed art criticism vis-à-vis the crisis of artistic values at that heady time, which was published in the Correio da Manhã (Rio de Janeiro, February 11, 1968) and titled “Do porco empalhado ou os critérios da crítica” [On Dissected Pig or the Critics’ Criteria].