"rupture and the group: abstraction and concrete art, 70 years"

Curated by Heloisa Espada and Yuri Quevedo, the exhibition brings together works and photographic records that refer to the historic show that took place in 1952 at MAM São Paulo

São Paulo's Museum of Modern Art is hosting the exhibition rupture and the group: abstraction and concrete art, 70 years starting on April 2nd. The show reread the historical exhibition of the Ruptura group, which took place at the MAM São Paulo in 1952 and lasted only 12 days. On that occasion, the group launched a manifesto with the same name, which defended new paradigms for art. The document and the exhibition indicated guidelines for the formation of Brazilian concrete art throughout the 1950s.

Curated by Heloisa Espada and Yuri Quevedo, the exhibition proposes a critical review of the legacy of constructive art in Brazil. The Ruptura manifesto criticized figuration and, without once mentioning the terms "abstraction" or "concrete art", pointed to these languages as "the new" in art. In 2022, the group of exhibited works brings to the surface new reflections, questionings and analyses. For the curator Heloisa Espada, "looking at the Ruptura group today does not mean uncritically adhering to the ideas presented in the 1950s, but considering the circumstances of their appearance, as well as the various contradictions between what the artists wrote and what they did. Still, the visual research of these artists had a libertarian connotation, as it set out to imagine new ways of organising the world in the post-war period."

The artists of Ruptura adopted a geometric language of vibrant colours that was not confused with images of nature. The proposal of a non-figurative art, which did not represent the appearances of the world, sought to create a frank and direct relationship with reality. For them, in art, only visual elements such as colours, lines and shapes could actually be considered real, because they did not simulate any appearance, they were themselves. Moreover, in their works, the repetition of forms and adherence to the laws of the theory of perception known as Gestalt created a strong sense of movement and visual rhythm. The idea of movement projected the dynamism that the artists of Ruptura wished to see in Brazilian society.

In a first moment, rupture and the group: abstraction and concrete art, 70 years approaches the original show of the Ruptura group at MAM, in 1952, through a set of documents and works made by the artists at the beginning of that decade. Among them are two paintings that were in the historic exhibition: Optical development of the spiral of Archimedes (1952), by Waldemar Cordeiro, and Vertical vibrations (1952), by Luiz Sacilotto.

Next, the exhibition addresses the group's production throughout the 1950s, when some artists move away and new names approach Ruptura, such as Judith Lauand, for example. "There is a discussion as to whether the Ruptura group existed as such only in the 1952 exhibition, or if it has a longer duration. This doubt is cleared up when we read the statements of the artists who entered afterwards, and went on to refer to themselves as part of Ruptura. We also realize the proximity when looking at the works, because there is a coherence of concerns and a coincidence of the problems they face", explains Yuri Quevedo.

During the 1950s, the participating artists are Anatol Wladyslaw; Geraldo de Barros; Hermelindo Fiaminghi; Judith Lauand; Kazmer Féjer; Leopold Haar; Lothar Charoux; Luiz Sacilotto; Maurício Nogueira Lima and Waldemar Cordeiro.

The show features Haar's rarely seen works, which have been kept in the family archive since the artist's death in 1954, and have not been exhibited anywhere since then. Heloisa Espada points out that because there is a fine line between the sculptures he produced and the models of projects for shop windows, "Haar is one of the artists who best exemplifies Ruptura's proposal that art should have a practical application in people's lives". Quevedo adds that "the group defended abstraction as a transformation project, capable of permeating people's daily lives, influencing industry and organising life in its most diverse scales: from plastic arts to design, from architecture to the city."

"After anticipating the discussions about the centenary of the 1922 Week of Modern Art last year, MAM's programme in 2022 reflects on another generation of modern artists who are closely linked to the history of the museum. This is a group that actively participated in the early years of MAM and had a utopian ideal that reveals much of the cultural environment in which MAM was created," says Cauê Alves, MAM São Paulo's chief curator.

"The show about the Ruptura group, besides giving visibility to such important artists in the invention of concrete art and geometric abstractionism in Brazil, revisits a fundamental moment in the history of art and in the history of MAM. There are few cultural institutions which can, 70 years later, revisit an exhibition which it itself held", says Elizabeth Machado, president of the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo.

Artists

Anatol Wladyslaw; Geraldo de Barros; Hermelindo Fiaminghi; Judith Lauand; Kazmer Féjer; Leopold Haar; Lothar Charoux; Luiz Sacilotto; Maurício Nogueira Lima and Waldemar Cordeiro.

About the Rupture group

Grupo Ruptura was a group of artists that marked the beginning of the concrete art movement in São Paulo, Brazil. Created in 1952, it was led by Waldemar Cordeiro (also its main theoretician) and initially composed of Geraldo de Barros, Luiz Sacilotto, Lothar Charoux, Kazmer Féjer, Anatol Wladyslaw and Leopold Haar. After the first exhibition, Maurício Nogueira Lima, Hermelindo Fiaminghi and Judith Lauand joined the group. Their manifesto proposed the "renewal of the essential values of visual art" through geometric research, bringing art and industry closer together, and combating lyrical abstractionism understood as individual expression unsuitable for the context of the art of that time.

Service

rupture and the group: abstraction and concrete art, 70 years

Curators: Heloisa Espada and Yuri Quevedo
Exhibition Period: April 02 (from 13h pm) to July 03, 2022
Place: Modern Art Museum of São Paulo
Address: Ibirapuera Park (Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, s/nº - Gates 1 and 3)
Hours: Tuesdays to Sundays, from 10am to 6pm (last entry at 5:30pm)
Telephone: (11) 5085-1300
Admission: R$25,00 for the entireticket. Free of charge on Sundays. Advance booking required.