While in the United States on a travel scholarship, the artist Rubens Gerchman wrote to Walter Zanini—who at the time was the director of the MAC-USP (Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo)—to tell him that he was in New York because of the Prêmio de Viagem ao Estrangeiro he won at the Salão Nacional in 1967. Gerchman also told Zanini that he planned to organize an exhibition, in the Big Apple, of work by Brazilian artists who did not necessarily move in official circles. Gerchman expressed interest in discussing the matter with Zanini, and also inquired about his own work that was scheduled to be shown at the II Bienal da Bahia (in Salvador), which was at the university museum in São Paulo that was under Zanini’s jurisdiction. 

Rubens Gerchman (1942–2008) was undoubtedly one of the major figures in Brazilian art since the 1960s, having taken part in landmark exhibitions such as Opinião 65, Opinião 66, and Nova Objetividade Brasileira (1967). He was one of the publishers of Malasartes magazine, an essential reference work about the experimental scene in the 1970s. He also directed the Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage (Rio de Janeiro), which pioneered a radical renewal in art instruction in Brazil. Gerchman went to New York in 1968 on the travel scholarship he won at the Salão Nacional de Arte Moderna (Rio de Janeiro) the previous year. He stayed in the United States until 1972; during that time he had solo exhibitions at New York galleries (Jack Misrachi in 1971 and Lerner Heller in 1971–72), where he exhibited some of the defining works of his career, such as his videos and sculpture based on words: AR (air), S.O.S., and LUTE (fight!). [As complementary reading, see the following articles by this artist in the ICAA digital archive: (untitled) [“A idéia da G-4 (…)”] (doc. no. 1110583); “Uma arte brasileiro/latino-americana” (doc. no. 1111052); (untitled) [“Este trabalho é (…)”] (doc. no. 1110626); and “Gerchman, o artista que testemunha e se faz presente” (doc. no. 1111086). See Zanini’s reply to this letter (doc. no. 1111055); and the edition of the ABC series of books devoted to the artist, published by FUNARTE, Rubens Gerchman (doc. no. 1111072)]. In addition to having been one of the curators of the Primera Bienal de São Paulo (1951), Walter Zanini (1925–2013) was the first director of the MAC-USP (Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo), a position he held from 1963 to 1978, where he did a great deal to encourage the work of new artists and marginalized groups, including technological and Conceptual art, as well as multimedia work and visual poetics. Zanini was a profesor at the ECA-USP (Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo). [You can also see the following articles written by Zanini: “A arte de comunicação telemática, a interatividade no ciberespaço” (doc. no. 1111028); “A arte postal na busca de uma nova comunicação internacional” (doc. no. 1110591); “Bienal: renovação crítica e riscos” (doc. no. 1111346); (untitled) [“Em 1973 pensávamos numa JAC futura de etapas constantes ao longo dos meses (…)”] (doc. no. 1110584); (untitled) [“Entrevista–depoimento (…)”] (doc. no. 1111244); (untitled) [“Incontáveis artistas cuja produção se inclui (…)”] (doc. no. 1110891); “As novas possibilidades = The new possibilities” (doc. no. 1110585); (untitled) [“O MAC acolheu o público (…)”] (doc. no. 1110662); “Primeiros tempos da arte/tecnologia no Brasil” (doc. no. 1111029); and “Vídeo-arte: uma poética aberta” (doc. no. 1110892)].