The 1960s in Brazil were a time of artistic ferment. Even as a military dictatorship seized power in March 1964 and consolidated its grip on the vast country, artists resisted the pressure to conform. Although Brazilian musicians achieved the greatest international prominence, visual artists had been pushing artistic boundaries before the dictatorship and continued to do so despite repression and censorship. This exhibition presents works by more than 100 artists to tell a story of rapid social and artistic evolution against the odds (31 May–5 October). Highlights include silkscreen flags by Nelson Leirner and Carmela Gross, first displayed in 1968 in the occupation of a public square in Rio de Janeiro; political cartoons and drawings by political prisoners; and works by Geraldo de Barros in which images torn from billboards are framed like paintings.
Find out more from the Pinacoteca’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary
Money (1967), from the series The Brazilian People by Pietrina Checcacci. Pinacoteca de São Paulo
Lovemaking Box (1967), Teresinha Soares. Pinacoteca de São Paulo
Marlboro (1976), Geraldo de Barros. Pinacoteca de São Paulo.