Ivan Serpa

Studied painting, engraving and drawing with Axl Leskoschek, between 1946 and 1948, in Rio de Janeiro. In 1949, he gave his first classes at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro - MAM / RJ, where, from 1952, exercises systematic teaching activity, especially in children's education. In 1954, he published the book Growing and Creation, with a text by Mário Pedrosa, about his experience in teaching art to children. That same year, alongside Ferreira Gullar and Mário Pedrosa, created the Front Group, composed of Franz Weissmann, Lygia Clark, Aluísio Carvão, Hélio Oiticica, Décio Vieira and Lygia Pape. He remained at the head of the group until its dissolution in 1956. Despite the freedom of aesthetic points of view in the group, there is a predominance of concretist artists. In 1957, he was awarded a trip abroad at the Salão Nacional de Arte Moderna - SNAM. He took part in the exhibition Opinião 65, an event which marked the dissemination of a new art form with a figurative tendency, neofiguration. From the beginning of his career, Ivan Serpa's work has oscillated between figurativism and concrete art. In 1970, with Bruno Tausz, he founded the Art Research Centre in Rio de Janeiro.

Por: Sala Rússia