Expanded Modernism" exhibition

Expanded Modernism | Curated by Denise Mattar

In the year in which the 100th anniversary of the 1922 Week of Modern Art is celebrated in the Federal District, an exhibition presents the unfolding of the Modernist movement in five Brazilian states between the 1930s and 1950s, culminating with the creation of Brasilia. The exhibition also recalls the history of women who have left their mark on the country's artistic production, such as Maria Tomaselli who, through her work Oca-Maloca, synthesised Brazil's cultural roots 

With works by 46 Brazilian artists, the exhibition that opens to the public on June 9, from 7pm, at the National Museum of the Republic traces an overview of how the Modernist movement was articulated, expanded and consolidated in five Brazilian states: Bahia, Ceará, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Sul, between 1930 and the end of the 1950s, culminating with the construction of Brasilia. "Modernism Expanded" is curated by Denise Mattar and presents 68 works that illustrate the effervescence of the period and the unfolding of the Modernist movement away from its historical and geographical landmark, the Week of Modern Art of 1922, which this year celebrates 100 years. On show at the Museum's Main Gallery until 7 August 2022, the exhibition is sponsored by the Fundo de Apoio à Cultural do Distrito Federal (FAC-DF). Admission is free and the indicative classification is free for all audiences. The National Museum of the Republic is located at Esplanada dos Ministérios, Brasília-DF. Visitation, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9am to 6.30pm.

"Modernismo Expandido" presents a broader view of Brazilian Modernism from the 1930s to the 1950s and sometimes goes beyond this time period to establish connections between artists and regions. The selection of works in the exhibition "Expanded Modernism" seeks to highlight the quality of Brazilian art made outside the hegemonic Rio-São Paulo axis, drawing attention to the exclusionary processes resulting from cultural centralization.

The curator places side by side works by nationally known artists and those with local projection, but who have an important and representative production of Modernism. "I found in the survey of works for the exhibition that the artists who left their places of origin, such as Antonio Bandeira and Aldemir Martins, and went to the large centres such as Rio and São Paulo, or Paris, as is the case of Cícero Dias, became known nationally. Those who stayed in their regions became less well known". Denise Mattar also noted a lower number of women. "Many of them have very good works, such as the record company Ailema Bianchetti, which is present in the Rio Grande do Sul nucleus, but their presence has been erased", she points out. 

In Bahia, Modernism began to consolidate in 1937 with the organization of the Salons of the ALA - Ala das Letras e das Artes by the critic Carlos Chiacchio. However, it was only in 1946, when the University of Bahia was founded with the creation of the School of Theater, Music and Dance that a great turning point occurred. Artists and theoreticians from the avant-garde arrived in Salvador and were invited to give classes. It was during this period of effervescence that names like Dorival Caymmi, Jorge Amado and Mestre Didi emerged. The Bahian capital became a meeting point for intellectuals, led in the arts by Mario Cravo Jr. For the Bahia section, the curator selected works by Agnaldo dos Santos, Carlos Bastos, Carybé, Genaro de Carvalho, Mario Cravo Jr, Mestre Didi and Presciliano Silva. 

Modernism in Ceará gained strength in 1941, when the artist Raimundo Cela created the Centro Cultural de Belas Artes in Fortaleza alongside the critic Mario Baratta and fellow artists, including Estrigas, Barrica and Nice Firmeza. In 1943, the centre was renamed Sociedade Cearense de Artes Plásticas (SECAP), creating the Salão de Abril, which still exists today. In 1945, the artists Antonio Bandeira and Aldemir Martins, who had taken part in the creation of SCAP, were invited to a collective exhibition of Ceará artists in Rio de Janeiro. The former won a scholarship to study in Paris, from 1946 to 1950, and the latter, in 1956, won the prize for best international draughtsman at the Venice Biennale with his innovative line, maintaining his Northeastern figuration. In the exhibition taking place at the Museu Nacional da República, the curator Denise Mattar selected for the Ceará section, works by Aldemir Martins, Antonio Bandeira, Barrica, Estrigas, Heloisa Juaçaba, Nice Firmeza and Raimundo Cela.  

The implementation of Modernism in Minas Gerais can be divided into three moments. The individual exhibition of Zina Aita, in 1920, who studied drawing and painting in Italy, held her exhibition soon after her return to Brazil. She was one of the participants in the Week of 22, and was considered one of the most modern artists of the event. The Bar Brasil Salon, in 1936, organized by the painter and illustrator Delpino Jr. and counted on the participation of several artists. They wanted the city of Belo Horizonte "to wake up from the doldrums, willing to give prestige to its authentic values". And the Modern Art Exhibition of 1944. The latter has a strong relationship with the creation of Brasilia. Juscelino Kubitschek, then mayor of Belo Horizonte, took two caravans of intellectuals from Rio and São Paulo to present them with the Pampulha complex, one of the first modernist architectural complexes in the world. The event was a milestone in the career of Oscar Niemeyer who commented on this moment with the phrase: "Brasilia was born in Pampulha". From the artists of Minas Gerais, the curator selected for the exhibition "Expanded Modernism" works by Alberto da Veiga Guignard, Delpino Jr., Farnese de Andrade, Fernando Pierucetti, Franz Weissman, Genesco Murta, Jeanne Milde, Martha, Loutsch and Mary Vieira. 

In Recife, Modernism was articulated over the course of a few decades, with Fédora do Rego Monteiro's participation in the Salon des independants, in Paris, as far back as 1910, being a milestone. Her brother, Vicente do Rego Monteiro, a painter and poet, was one of the artists of the Week of 22 and a great encourager of Ledo Ivo and João Cabral de Melo Neto in the Recife of the 1940s. In 1931, Cícero Dias presented his panel "I saw the world, and it began in Recife" at the 1931 Revolutionary Hall. Only in 1952, after the artists had broken away from the Recife Society of Modern Art in 1948, did the Ateliê Coletivo emerge, inspired by the social content of the proposals of the Clube da Gravura of Porto Alegre (RS). In the 1970s, Ariano Suassuna proposed integrating art and regionalism with the Armorial Movement and its exponents Gilvan Samico and José Barbosa. In the exhibition, the Pernambuco section brings works by Abelardo da Hora, Cícero Dias, Corbiniano Lins, Fédora do Rego Monteiro, Francisco Brennand, Gilvan Samico, José Barbosa, José Claudio, Luiz Jardim, Lula Cardoso Ayres, Reynaldo Fonseca, Vicente do Rego Monteiro and Wellington Virgolino, highlighting the work "Mulheres de Tejucupapo", by Tereza Costa Rego, who in 2015, at the age of 89, produced the panel that portrays the saga of the women who, alone, expelled the Dutch from their village - a story of female heroism, audacity and the struggle for land.  

In Rio Grande do Sul, Modernism began to take shape in the early 1950s, with the restructuring of the teaching of painting at the School of Fine Arts and the creation of the Museum of Art of Rio Grande do Sul, MARGS, by Aldo Malagoli. The Clube dos Amigos da Gravura de Porto Alegre (CGPA), created by Carlos Scliar in the 1950s, brought together artists from the left, affiliated to or sympathising with the Communist Party of Brazil (PCB). The group was engaged in a project to democratise art and raise political awareness, proposing a national, realistic art that was geared towards the working class and local cultural traditions. The Gaucho group would be the inspiration for Ateliê Coletivo in Recife. Iberê Camargo, another fundamental name in the art of gaúcha, studied in Rio de Janeiro with Guignard, returning in 1960 to the gaucho capital to teach a course that gave rise to the Atelier Livre (Free Atelier) of the City Hall. In the same decade he had the artist Maria Tomaselli as a student. From Rio Grande do Sul, Ado Malagoli, Ailema Bianchetti, Carlos Scliar, Danúbio Gonçalves, Glauco Rodrigues, Glenio Bianchetti, Iberê Camargo and Maria Tomaselli.

The exhibition "Modernismo Expandido" makes a historical reparation, rescuing part of Brazilian art whose importance has been obscured by official historiography. The work "Oca Maloca", created by the artist Maria Tomaselli, closes the exhibition. The interactive installation houses inside "secrets" created by more than 40 artists. It brings together the ancestry of the Indian Oca and the urban Maloca, made of coloured wooden fragments. It is a synthesis of the country and our cultural roots.

About the curator

Denise Mattar was a curator at Museu da Casa Brasileira, SP from 1985 to 1987, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo from 1987 to 1989 and Museu de Arte Moderna RJ from 1990 to 1997. As an independent curator she held from 1997 to 2014 retrospective shows of Di Cavalcanti, Flávio de Carvalho (APCA Award), Ismael Nery (APCA and ABCA Awards), Pancetti, Anita Malfatti, Samson Flexor (APCA Award), Frans Krajcberg, Mary Vieira, Maria Tomaselli. Aluísio Carvão, Abelardo Zaluar, Raymundo Colares, Hildebrando de Castro, Norberto Nicola, Aldo Bonadei, Alfredo Volpi, Guignard. And the following thematic exhibitions from 2004 to 2014: Traço, Humor e Cia, O Olhar Modernista de JK, O Preço da Sedução, O' Brasil, Homo Ludens, Nippon. Brasília - Síntese das Artes, Tékhne e Memórias Reveladas, Pierre Cardin, Mário de Andrade, Projeto Sombras, No Balanço da Rede, Duplo Olhar.

About the bidder

Oitava Casa Produções works in the areas of art-education and cultural production since 2009. Among the projects developed, the exhibitions Arquivo Brasília: Cidade Imaginário and Obra Inventário, both in Brasília, stand out. It is directed by Rebeca Borges, educator with a degree in Visual Arts and extensive experience in pedagogical coordination of educational programs.

About the National Museum of the Republic

The National Museum of the Republic, located in Brasília, was inaugurated in 2006 and is managed by the Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy of the Federal District. The Museum holds temporary exhibitions of visual arts and visual culture of national relevance in the field of arts and visual culture. Guided by the freedom of expression, the Museum also aims to house proposals for curatorial experimentation and diversified contemporary artistic production, with a view to promoting, researching, disseminating and facilitating access to it.

Service

Expanded modernism

68 works by 46 artists from 5 Brazilian states - Bahia, Ceará, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Sul

From the 1930s to the 1950s

Curator | Denise Mattar

Opening | Thursday 9 June

                    From 7pm to 10pm

Where | Main Gallery 

              National Museum of the Republic 

              Esplanada dos Ministérios - Brasília - DF

Visitation | Until 7 August 

                   Tuesday to Sunday, from 9h to 18h30 

Admission | Free of charge

Classification Classification | Free for all audiences