On the basis of the festive, bold, and boundless nature of the relationship between the social and the artistic in Latin America, critic Aracy Amaral argues that there is an integral connection between the creative and the political in the region. In her view, that connection yields unique artistic expressions of a nonobjective nature. She asserts that Latin American artists who make use of the body do not convey a sense of drama or of violence, unlike artists from other regions. In her view, Latin American works of ephemeral art have an esoteric quality akin to popular celebrations and carnival. Amaral cites the examples of Hélio Oiticica’s environmental art, Artur Barrio’s blunt approach to precarious materials, and Ivald Granato’s playful and ironic work. Amaral places emphasis on Neo-Concretism and the transition of its use in urban space. She describes the experiments of artists Lygia Clark and Antonio Manuel from Rio de Janeiro, as well as the pioneering efforts of Flávio de Carvalho and Wesley Duke Lee in São Paulo. Amaral mentions projects in a similar spirit developed at the Museu de Arte Moderna de Rio and others that she organized in São Paulo. Lastly, Amaral mentions conceptual works, urban interventions, and works of mail art by Cildo Meireles. Regarding his work, she warns that excessive distance between the artist and the audience is cause for alarm insofar as it imperils the effectiveness of social commitment.

This text is one of the first attempts to provide a historical overview of the events, exhibitions, works, and artists in Brazil pertinent to experimental production of a conceptual or nonobjective nature. The paper was delivered at the I Simposio sobre Arte No Objetual, which took place in Medellín, Colombia, in May 1981. In 1983, it was published in a book of essays by Aracy Amaral entitled Arte e meio artístico: entre a feijoada e o x-burguer (1961–1981).

Aracy A. Amaral (b. 1930) has extensive experience in art administration, and in academic and curatorial practice. She was the director of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo from 1975 to 1979, and of the Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC-USP) from 1982 to 1986. She is currently a full professor of art history at the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo (FAU-USP). The many books she has written on Brazilian art include: Tarsila, sua obra e seu tempo (São Paulo: Editora 34/EDUSP, 2010); Textos do Trópico de Capricórnio—artigos e ensaios (1980–2005), 3 vols. (São Paulo: Editora 34, 2006); Arte para quê? A preocupação social na arte brasileira 1930–1970 (São Paulo: Nobel, 2003); and Artes Plásticas na Semana de 22 (São Paulo: Perspectiva, 1970).

For related texts, see Aracy Amaral’s “Does present day Latin American art…” [doc. no. 776786]; Juan Acha’s “Does present-day Latin American art exist as a distinct expression?” [doc. no. 1065080]; and Marta Traba’s “¿Existe el arte latinomaericano como una expresión artística distinta?” [doc. no. 1065742].

For additional information, see “Speak Out! Charla! Bate-Papo!: Contemporary Art and Literature in Latin America, A Symposium at The University of Texas at Austin, 1975,” in Héctor Olea, Mari Carmen Ramírez, and Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, Critical Documents of 20th-Century Latin American and Latino Art, Vol.1, Resisting Categories: Latin American and/or Latino? (Houston: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston/International Center for the Arts of the Americas, 2012), pp. 740–53.