This text by art critic Alberto Tassinari addresses the group Casa 7’s participation in the 1985 edition of the São Paulo Biennial. One of the characteristics of the group’s new strain of research is, according to Tassinari, the “arrangement” of signs taken from other languages, that is, the “use of a succession of masks and effigies.” In his view, that pictorial perspective is not limited to quotation, parody, or cynicism; on the contrary, it takes pains to show the lack of meaning in a contemporary world characterized by “the reverse of excesses and the unruliness of the signs.” On that premise, Tassinari formulates the “return to painting,” a regression questioned during the eighties.

The members of the São Paulo-based group Casa 7 were Carlito Carvalhosa, Fábio Miguez, Nuno Ramos, Rodrigo Andrade, and Paulo Monteiro. The group was representative of a newfound focus on painting that took hold in the eighties; its name makes reference to house number 7 on a street in the Cerqueira César section of the city. Unlike most artists of their generation, the members of this group were not interested in the figure of the “star” artist, but in shared work in the studio in the sense of an exchange of ideas and experiences rather than actual joint production.

Art critic Alberto Tassinari wrote for Folha de São Paulo newspaper in 1987 and 1988. Starting in 1982, though, he published articles on contemporary art and philosophy in periodicals, exhibition catalogues, and specialized journals. He is the author of the book O espaço moderno (2001).

[On artists from the eighties, see the following texts by art critic Frederico Morais in the ICAA digital archive: “Como vai você, geração 80? (Sinto-me como uma star, no palco, investindo no prazer)” (doc. no. 1111355), “Gosto deste cheiro de pintura” (doc. no. 1110992), “Gute Nacht Herr Baselitz ou Helio Oiticica onde está você?” (doc. no. 1110957), and “Leonilson: a Geração 80 ficou para trás” (doc. no. 1110961)].