The artist Rubens Gerchman discusses Pare, the exhibition he jointly presented with Roberto Magalhães, Antonio Dias, Carlos Vergara, and Pedro Escosteguy at the G-4 gallery in Rio de Janeiro in April 1966. Gerchman explains that the exhibition consisted of a series of installations that sought to involve the viewer; the objective of these projects was to encourage viewers to abandon their “passive attitude to things” by raising their awareness about contemporary works of art that could be described as “aggressive.” Among the works on display, a “sort of didactic” happening took place in the gallery, where beans were dropped from the ceiling, falling on the viewers standing in front of a panel inscribed with questions such as “What is man like?” “Is man a rational animal?” And “Is man hungry?” Gerchman estimates that almost ten thousand people visited the gallery during the exhibition Pare. “There had never been greater interest in contemporary art.”

Pare, the exhibition at the G-4 gallery in 1966, brought together artists who were living in Rio de Janeiro at the time, and whom the critic Mário Schenberg referred to as “neo-realists,” which included Rubens Gerchman (1942–2008), Roberto [de Oliveira] Magalhães (b. 1940), Antonio [Manuel Lima] Dias (b. 1944), Carlos [Augusto Caminha] Vergara (b. 1941), and Pedro Escosteguy (1916–89). These artists (and thirteen others) subsequently signed the “Declaração dos princípios da vanguarda” (1967). In this essay about the exhibition Pare, published in the book Rubens Gerchman (Rio de Janeiro: Funarte, 1978), the artist restates the event’s “very social and very political” goal of involving viewers in the happenings. Gerchman considers the English word to have colonial connotations, but it was very much in vogue at the time, and had been immediately assimilated by the general public. He compares the provocative nature of the work in the exhibition with the antics of the TV personality Chacrinha, who was known for throwing pieces of codfish into the studio audience.   

[For more information on this subject, see the following essays in the ICAA digital archive: by Hélio Oiticica “Esquema geral da nova objetividade” (doc. no. 1110372); and by Rubens Gerchman “Uma arte brasileiro/latino-americana” (doc. no. 1111052); (untitled) [“Este trabalho é (…)”] (doc. no. 1110626); “Gerchman, o artista que testemunha e se faz presente” (doc. no. 1111086); and the letter he wrote to Walter Zanini in 1968 from New York (doc. no. 1111051). See also Zanini’s reply to Gerchman, written in 1969 (doc. no. 1111055); and the edition of the ABC book series devoted to the artist, Rubens Gerchman, published by FUNARTE (doc. no. 1111072)].