Fernando Cocchiarale wrote a brief overview with some information he considered essential for an understanding of Brazilian art. The writer talks about its search to define itself—condensed in the concept of cultural cannibalism—and about experimentation, seeking to understand how such issues are played out in contemporary Brazilian art. To that end, he discusses the framework of the Brazilian art history, starting with the French Art Mission (brought by imperial order in the early 19th century). He goes on to discuss the establishment of Abstract art and the Constructive art movements—in his opinion the first Brazilian avant-garde artwork—in the 1940s and 1950s. Cocchiarale even suggests possibilities for overcoming the obstacles still faced (as of this writing, in 2000) by the visual arts in Brazil, including the absence of a strong art system supported by a vibrant art market. To overcome such an obstacle, it would be necessary to professionalize the field of art and to effect a general improvement in Brazilian art infrastructure.

The art critic, professor and curator Fernando Cocchiarale (b. 1952) takes a close look at the updated version of the cannibalistic model (prevalent in the 1960s) and the interest in this concept among the Concrete poets (Haroldo and Augusto de Campos and Décio Pignatari). Other artists attracted to this model were the Tropicalists working in the 1960s, led by Hélio Oiticica; in fact, this article takes its title from one of that artist’s Parangolés. As Cocchiarale understands it, the concept of cannibalism gained traction starting in 1972, which was a crucial year for two reasons. First, there were celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the Semana de Arte Moderna (Modern Art Week) of 1922. Second, through the initiative of Haroldo de Campos, the publishing house Civilização Brasileira published the complete works (in several volumes) of Oswald de Andrade, who originated the concept. The incorporation of this model was highly important for contemporary art in Brazil in its experimental manifestations (Concrete and Neo-Concrete art). Cocchiarale, working in Rio de Janeiro, paid special attention to the Concrete art movements, which he believed had a positive influence on the entire task of art in three ways: It broke with the conventional categories of art (implied in Ferreira Gullar’s “Teoria do Não-Objeto”); it invited the participation of the viewer in the work; and it suggested a potential integration between art and life. In that decade (1960s), Brazilian art already included clear references to trends such as American Pop art and its French version (Nouveau Réalisme). The ties to international art avant-gardes were already strong in Brazil at the time.

After working as an artist in the 1970s, Fernando Cocchiarale became a well-known Brazilian art critic and curator in the 1980s. One of his concerns was the loss of the critical focus [see “Crítica: a palabra em crise,” doc. no. 1110943]. In the mid-1970s, working with three other writer/artists (Anna Bella Geiger, Ivens Machado and Paulo Herkenhoff), Cocchiarale became involved in the institutional policy of the newly opened Experimental Room at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro [doc. no. 1110602]. In a text on Anna Bella Geiger, “O pão nosso de cada dia,” the critic reviewed her exhibition in the Experimental Room at MAM-Rio, highlighting the interest it stirred up in the investigation of new visual technologies [doc. no. 1110557].