Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

In his introductory essay, Frederico Morais identifies the basic criteria underpinning the three retrospective exhibitions that were presented as part of the Ciclo de exposições sobre arte no Rio de Janeiro (1984). He briefly discusses [...]

This brochure was designed in 1996 for the exhibition Desexp(l)os(ign)ição (a compound word meaning something like ignited-signs-that-do-not-explode-in-the-non-exhibition). This event was a historical celebration of the Exposiç& [...]

This essay by the Brazilian art critic Wilson Coutinho appeared in the catalogue for the exhibition Ciclo de exposições sobre arte no Rio de Janeiro: 1. Neoconcretismo (Rio de Janeiro: Galeria de Arte BANERJ, 1984). The essay outlines [...]

In this essay, Ferreira Gullar describes the context in which the Neo-Concrete art movement was created by artists in Rio de Janeiro. He outlines the movement’s evolution as he identifies key developments in its history, such as the series [...]

In this essay, written for the paradigmatic exhibition Projeto Construtivo Brasileiro na Arte, Roberto Pontual discusses the survival of the Neo-Concrete art movement that existed “officially” for “a little less than two years, from [...]

In this essay Ronaldo Brito discusses Brazilian Constructivism as an integral part of an “organized cultural strategy” that was in effect from the 1940s to the 1960s and was closely aligned with “the country’s social and [...]

Frederico Morais uses an extremely long title to provide a précis of his essay. But it only complicates the simplified narratives of a movement—whose embrace of doctrinaire Constructivism was followed by a critical rift between Concrete [...]

Ferreira Gullar uses his newspaper column to reply to an article that appeared in the Correio da Manhã in which Waldemar Cordeiro challenged his review of an exhibition of works by Concrete artists from São Paulo at the MAM-RJ (Museu de [...]

In this essay, Ferreira Gullar offers a “panoramic view” of the developments and theoretical tenets of Neoconcrete art in Brazil. As in other essays [see in the ICAA digital archive “Da arte concreta à arte neoconcreta” (doc. no. 1315036)], [...]

In this essay, Ferreira Gullar articulates the position of the so-called Neoconcrete artists of Rio de Janeiro by tracing a shared history and points of divergence with the Concrete art movement. For Gullar, Concrete art begins in Brazil with the [...]

In this letter dated June 20, 1988, the English critic and curator Guy Brett expresses his gratitude to the Brazilian collector Adolpho Leirner and his wife, Fulvia Leirner, for the time they spent together in São Paolo. Brett is especially [...]

The first Bienal Internacional de São Paulo at the Museu de Arte Moderna en São Paulo (MAM-SP) was presented in 1951; it was a groundbreaking event outside of Europe, attracting the sort of attention usually reserved for the Venice [...]

The synopsis and the annotations in English are coming soon. However, our bilingual readers can click on “Español” to access this information in Spanish [...]

In her introduction to the catalog for the exhibition, The Experimental Exercise of Freedom at the MOCA (The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1999–2000), the curator Alma Ruiz explains that the purpose of the exhibition is to show [...]

In this essay, Luis Enrique Pérez Oramas analyzes a fragment of modern Latin American art history, presented through the form of “penetrable” works. The critic describes the development of the form with respect to its representation as [...]

This article by artist Javier Téllez is a response to an earlier article by fellow Venezuelan artist Eugenio Espinoza on the practice of installations as “cubiculismo.” Téllez asserts that it is not surprising that Espinoza’s text contains [...]

In this text, art critic Lisette Lagnado develops the concept “instauração” formulated by Tunga as a means to go beyond terms such as “instalação” and/or “performance,” which he deemed inapplicable. In Lagnado’s view, the word “ [...]

The professor and essay writer Celso Favaretto assesses the parameters that frame the work of Hélio Oiticica, from the experience of pure art to the statement made by environmental art. In Favaretto’s opinion, the path followed by the artist from [...]

Lygia Pape interviews Hélio Oiticica after he had returned from having lived for a period in New York. When asked about the term “Latin American art,” Oiticica says that he does not believe his work fits into that category, which he considers [...]

Artist Milton Machado discusses the response abroad, specifically in England, to the group show Continuum Brazilian Art 1960s–1990s, held in Essex in 1995. Machado comments on the appeal of a certain “exoticism” attributed to [...]

These are Hélio Oiticica’s notes, written in 1966 and 1967, in which he outlines the basic descriptions for the “Parangolés,” his series of multicolored capes. He associates the series with the concept of “anti-art” and the active [...]

The English critic Guy Brett interviews Hélio Oiticica, who describes some of the concepts involved in the works exhibited at his London retrospective. The artist explains his concepts of creative participation, “crelazer” [a hybrid word [...]

Critic Mário Pedrosa terms Hélio Oiticica’s recent work “post-modern,” given that he no longer relies on criteria established by Cubism, but rather on other innovative stimuli. In his judgment, this “post-modern” work begins a new cycle [...]

Hélio Oiticica and Rogério Duarte describe the group experience called Apocalipopótese, a hybrid term that combines the words Apocalypse, hypothesis, and hippopotamus. The essay is written in a decidedly irreverent, poetic style that establishes a [...]

In this essay, Hélio Oiticica discusses the ruptures to be created by a new objectual perspective in Brazilian art that he uses to define his concept of “super-sensory” experience. He is referring to art installations of an (inner) libertarian [...]

In this essay Antonio Dias explains his interest in producing artist’s books, and lists some of his publications. He indicates his preference for projects that require a great deal of knowledge about printing techniques, and mentions his [...]

This interview with Hélio Oiticica was conducted by the anthropologist Carlos Alberto Pereira and the literary critic Heloísa Buarque de Hollanda in Rio de Janeiro on October 15, 1979. Here the artist makes a clear distinction between political [...]

This article includes a description of Nova Objetividade Brasileira, the exhibition held in 1967 at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, and a discussion of some of the works that were shown there. The author provides a commentary on the [...]

Hélio Oiticica describes the mock-up for the environmental project Cães de Caça [Hunting Dogs], a space consisting of five sets of works called “Penetráveis,” the “buried poem” by the writer and art critic [José Ribamar] Ferreira Gullar [...]

In this article, Hélio Oiticica explains what he means by the terms “color,” “time,” “structure,” and even “space” as applied to his work, underscoring the interrelationships between these elements and the organic nature of his art. [...]

Hélio Oiticica presents his research into the transition from two-dimensional paintings to three-dimensional works of art, discussing some of his own projects—such as Invenções, Núcleos, and Penetráveis—and the designs for open air [...]

The critic Ferreira Gullar discusses the result of the I Exposição Neoconcreta as he reviews the works shown by Aluísio Carvão and Hélio Oiticica. He mentions the novel approach taken by both artists in their use of the exhibition space, and [...]

This article reviews the works exhibited by carioca artists (from Rio de Janeiro) at the I Exposição Nacional de Arte Concreta. The poet and critic Ferreira Gullar, who lives in Rio and is the leader of the local concrete art group, discusses the [...]

According to curator Carolina Ponce de León, the recent focus on multiculturalism, identity, and difference has lent renewed visibility to Latin American art, although it is understood strictly in terms of otherness. Multiculturalism has also given [...]

This text by British critic Guy Brett analyzes Latin American art movements of the fifties and sixties, specifically Kinetic art, Op art, and Concretism. Brett argues that those movements formulated a radical change on the level of theory and of [...]

This essay by Frederico [de] Morais accepts as a given that the stigma of Latin American marginalization is due to its absence from the field of universal art or to its exclusion from metropolitan history and criticism of art. At the same time, some [...]

In Crimen es ornamento [Crime is Ornamental], the text of the exhibition catalogue of the homonymous show carried out in the Centro Cultural Parque España, Rosario (Argentina), between September 8 and October 2, 1994, Carlos Basualdo links the works [...]

This report includes an extensive unsigned article as well as a number of important documents and photos. It begins by presenting the placement and positions of “the boldest artists of their country…and one of the most brilliant teams of the [...]