At the generational level, the paradigmatic exhibition of the 1980s in Brazil, Como vai você, Geração 80?, reflected the curatorial perspective of Marcus de Lontra Costa, Paulo Roberto Leal, and Sandra Mager. Held in the buildings of the Escola de Artes Visuais del Parque Lage (Rio de Janeiro, 1984), the event brought together [the work of] 123 artists. Most of these artists were working within the dictates (more commercial than artistic) of the trend internationally known as the “return to painting.” This reflected what was happening with the historic [work of the] avant-garde and their tireless experimentation, since in postwar Europe, there was another retro art movement known as the Retour à l’ordre.
The critic and curator Wilson Coutinho established his base of operations around Rio de Janeiro, producing a distinguished body of work between 1980 and 2003.
[As supplementary reading, see the following texts in the ICAA digital archive: by Frederico Morais, “Gute Nacht Herr Baselitz, ou Helio Oiticica, onde está você?” (doc. no. 1110957); by Jorge Guinle Filho, “Papai era surfista profissional, mamãe fazia mapa astral legal. ‘Geração 80” ou como matei uma aula de arte num shopping center” (doc. no. 1110971); and by Roberto Pontual, “Explode Geração” (doc. no. 1110991)].