This article includes a description of Nova Objetividade Brasileira, the exhibition held in 1967 at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, and a discussion of some of the works that were shown there. The author provides a commentary on the exhibition’s underlying principles—as expressed by Hélio Oiticica—and refers to the critical role played by the event by alluding to its historical subtext; that is, the exhibition’s portrayal of the genesis and development of how the object is addressed in Brazilian art.     

Nova Objetividade Brasileira was a landmark exhibition in regard to the emergence of a new kind of avant-garde Brazilian art in the aftermath of the concrete and neo-concrete movements. Participants included “Nova Figuração” artists (Antonio Dias, Carlos Vergara, Carlos Zílio, Roberto Magalhães, and Rubens Gerchman, among others), as well as artists from the 1950s (Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Lygia Pape, and Waldemar Cordeiro). In a way, by exploring some of the same issues that were addressed by earlier exhibitions—Opinião 65 and Opinião 66 (both held at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro), and Propostas 65 and Propostas 66 (presented in São Paulo)—the theme of Nova Objetividade highlights the struggles with constructive art’s legacy and the tensions created by an emerging mass culture. The exhibition’s message thus suggests how artists should respond to contemporary political events.     

The backdrop to those events was the intensification of the military dictatorship that lasted two decades (1964–85) and that was beginning to prohibit many activities by means of Institutional Laws. As regards the primary texts concerning this matter, see “Opinião 65” by Ceres Franco [doc. no. 1090499]; “Declaração de princípios básicos da vanguarda” by Antonio Dias [doc. no. 1110371]; and “Esquema geral da nova objetividade” by Hélio Oiticica [doc. no. 1110372].