Maria Tomaselli (b. 1941) is an Austrian artist based in Brazil. She was the first artist not a member of the grupo N.O. whose work was presented in the journal Nervo Óptico. Curiously, she was not working in Conceptual art, nor was she tied to experimental practices with the new media; on the contrary, the media in which she was working were painting and drawing. However, Tomaselli did participate in the early meetings held to organize the Porto Alegre group prior to its manifesto, which she obviously refused to sign. Her later appearance in the handbill Nervo Óptico suggests an attempt by the group to include other poetics. This work by Tomaselli comes from the period when she was studying printing in Rio de Janeiro and prior to her departure for Pernambuco, where she went to be close to Native cultures in Northeast Brazil. Years later, the artist would be involved in establishing workshops, newspapers and independent spaces.
Under the epigraph “Publication open to the dissemination of new visual poetics,” Nervo Óptico was published monthly in Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul) for a total of 13 issues (from April 1977 to September 1978). The journal was created by a group of artists who identified themselves with the journal’s initials, N.O. The participants in Nervo Óptico included Vera Chaves Barcellos (b. 1938), Carlos Asp (b. 1949), Carlos Pasquetti (b. 1948), Clovis Dariano (b. 1950), Jesús Escobar (b. 1956), Flávio Pons (b. 1947), Mara Alvares (b. 1948), Romanita Martins (b. 1940) and Telmo Lanes (b. 1955).
The publication was created in the form of a small plaque, printed on only one side of the sheet (32 cm x 22.05cm), with an average run of 2,000 copies. Circulated nationally and internationally, Nervo Óptico was sent out to a broad mailing of artists, journalists and art critics.
The content of Nervo Óptico was basically visual, reproducing works by the group or invited artists, almost all including the language of photography, whether as artwork in itself or as photographic documentation of performances. The publication created a space for debate about contemporary art events far from the values that prevailed in the art market and the demand for collectible objects. Nervo Óptico focused on conceptual art, thus creating its own instrument of legitimation.
All 13 issues of the Porto Alegre publication Nervo Óptico are available in the ICAA digital archive.
For a description of the works in the group’s first exhibition and other artists’ testimony on the semiotic intentions of its work, see “[Em manifestaçao realizada em dezembro último...]” by the Grupo N.O. [doc. no. 1110913]. In addition, regarding the group’s thinking about the artist’s role and creative potential beyond market conditions, see the document distributed during the exhibition entitled “Manifesto” [doc. no. 1110690]. The second issue of this Rio Grande do Sul journal presented work by Mara Álvares [doc. no. 1110914]; the third issue, work by Carlos Asp [doc. no. 1110915]; the fourth showed work by Carlos Pasquetti [doc. no. 1110916]; the fifth issue highlighted the radical approach of Telmo Lanes [doc. no. 1110917]; the sixth issue brought us the photographic work of Clovis Dariano [doc. no. 1110918]; the seventh issue featured the work “Regarding the Smile” by the artist Vera Chaves Barcellos [doc. no. 1110919]; and the eighth issue represented an N.O. group exhibition held at the Galeria Eucatexpo [doc. no. 1110920].
