Modern where? Modern when? The Week of 22 as motivation".

The proximity of the centenary celebrations of the Semana de Arte Moderna induces new reflections on the events that took place at the Theatro Municipal de São Paulo in February 1922 and on the role of these events in the establishment of modernism in Brazil.

Rather than proposing an assertive appreciation, the exhibition Modern Where? Modern when? takes up the theme again, avoiding ready-made answers, crystallised by the current voice.

Was the Week of 22 a watershed between the old and the new, between "passadism" and "modernism"? If we look at the artistic, musical, architectural and literary production that preceded the Week of 22 - also in places other than São Paulo - we find countless evidence that the Week of 22 is part of a broad and discontinuous process that goes beyond it, both temporally and territorially.

Thus, this exhibition brings together a set of paintings, sculptures, drawings and photographs that express an innovative intention - in the composition, in the making or in the subject matter - regardless of their date and place of production. Modern Where? Moderno quando? aims to present artists and works participating in the event at the Theatro Municipal - not always as modern as one might imagine - as well as works by artists who preceded and/or succeeded them, amidst the ever complex political and cultural conjuncture in Brazil.

Aracy A. Amaral
Regina Teixeira de Barros
Trustees

 

Full list of artists

Abigail de Andrade, Alberto da Veiga Guignard, Alfredo Volpi, Almeida Júnior, Alvim Corrêa, Anita Malfatti, Antonio Garcia Moya, Antonio Gomide, Antonio Paim Vieira, Artur Timótheo da Costa, Candido Portinari, Carlos Oswald, Cicero Dias, Eliseu d'Angelo Visconti, Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, Estevão Silva, Flavio de Carvalho, Gregori Warchavchik, Ignácio da Costa Ferreira (Ferrignac), Ismael Nery, Joaquim do Rego Monteiro, John Graz, Lasar Segall, Lívio Abramo, Manoel Santiago, Oswaldo Goeldi, Raimundo Cela, Regina Gomide Graz, Rodolfo Chambelland, Tarsila do Amaral, Valério Vieira, Vicente do Rego Monteiro, Victor Brecheret, Victor Dubugras, Wilheim Haarberg and Zina Aita.

About the catalogue

The exhibition will include a comprehensive catalogue organized by the curators, which presents, in some 200 pages, a set of unpublished texts by eight guest authors. Aldrin Moura de Figueiredo writes about Brazilian modernism from the Amazon; Ana Maria de Moraes Belluzzo presents an overview of the establishment of modernism in the visual arts in Brazil; Cacá Machado discusses musical culture in the different Brazilian modernities; Durval Muniz de Albuquerque Júnior discusses the disputes surrounding modernism and modernism in the Northeast; Felipe Chaimovich presents the antecedents of the plastic arts in the Week of 22 and the relationship with the Prado family; Luiz Felipe Alencastro addresses the country's political, economic and social issues during the period; and Ruy Castro questions the history of the Week of 22 and its protagonists, with a series of provocative questions and comments. Rachel Vallego develops a chronology of the period from 1930 to 1937.

The catalogue will be launched while the show is on, on a date to be confirmed.

About the curators

Aracy A. Amaral is a critic, curator and art historian. A full professor of Art History at FAUUSP and a Fapesp and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation scholar, she holds a degree in Journalism from PUC-SP, a master's degree from FFLCH USP and a doctorate from ECA-USP (1971). Director of Pinacoteca do Estado (1975-1979), Fundação Bienal de São Paulo (1980) and Museu de Arte Contemporânea da USP (1982-1986). Fellowship of the Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1978) and member of the Prince Claus Awards Committee (2002-2005), The Hague. Author and editor of books and publications on art in Brazil and Latin America. Curator of exhibitions in Brazil and abroad.

Regina Teixeira de Barros holds a PhD in Aesthetics and Art History from USP. She coordinated the research team and the edition of the Catalogue Raisonné Tarsila do Amaral (2006-2008). She was a curator at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo between 2003 and 2015, where she held several exhibitions, including Tarsila viajante (Pinacoteca and Malba, Buenos Aires, 2008) and Arte no Brasil: uma história do modernismo (2013). In 2018 he received awards from ABCA and APCA for the exhibition Anita Malfatti: 100 years of modern art (MAM, 2017). In partnership with Aracy Amaral, she curated Tarsila: estudos e anotações (Fábrica de Arte Marcos Amaro, Itu, 2020).

 

Service

Modern where? Modern when? The Week of 22 as motivation
Curatorship: Aracy A. Amaral and Regina Teixeira de Barros
Exhibition period: September 4th to December 12th
Location: Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo
Address: Parque Ibirapuera (av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, s/nº - gates 1 and 3)
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am to 6pm (last entry at 5:30pm)
Telephone: (11) 5085-1300
Free entry, with suggested contribution. Advance booking required.