A Radical Leap

Concretism and Neo-Concretism

Jornal do Brazil, 1958

International Sources

International European Constructivism: (left) Max Bill “Art Concrete” Retrospective, Zurich, Switzerland. (right above) Neoplasticism, Piet Mondrian (Dutch, 1874-1944), Tableau, 1921; (right below) De Stijl, Theo van Doesburg, Simultaneous Counter-Composition, 1925

Georges Vantongerloo (Dutch, 1886 - 1965), Curves, 1938, oil on panel, 101.8 x 70.5 cm. European source for Brazilian Concrete artists

Max Bill (Swiss, 1908-1994, “Zurich Concrete” Group) Tripartite Unity, 1947-48, stainless steel, 19x35x46”Museu de Arte Contemporanea da Universidade de Sao Paulo. Moebius strip spatial and surface qualities

" We call those works of art concrete that came into being on the basis of their inherent resources and rules - without external borrowing from natural phenomena…. Concrete art … is the expression of the human spirit, intended for the human spirit, and it should have the sharpness, the clarity and the perfection that must be expected from the human spirit.… Concrete art is ultimately the pure expression of harmonious measure and law. It orders systems and uses artistic resources to give life to these orders … It strives for universality and yet it cultivates uniqueness.”

- Max Bill

Max Bill, Endless Ribbon, granite, 1953 (orig., 1935), Baltimore Museum of Art Sculpture Garden

Alexander Calder (American Kinetic Abstract Sculptor, 1898-1976) ceiling of “acoustic clouds” for the Aula Magna auditorium, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, architect Carlos Raul Villanueva, 1952

Antônio Maluf, Poster for the First São Paulo Biennial, 1951

Joaquin Torres-García, Constructivist Painting No. 8, 1938, gouache on paperboard , 31 5/8 in. x 19 1/2 in. SFMOMA. Publication of text, Universal Constructivism, Torres-Garcia’s theory of art that he promoted in Uruguay after 1934 at the El Taller Torres-García(the Torres-García studio), part of the School of the South, where artists worked collectively on murals, architecture, sculpture, and crafts, often in conjunction with writers, musicians, and performers.

Lucio Fontana (Argentina,1899 - Italy,1968) Concetto spaziale, 1952enamel on metal, diameter: 9’ 9’

Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale (Spatial Concept) 1965, water-based paint on canvas, 130 x 97 cm

Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale, oil on canvas, punctured, 1949. A painting opened up to space like sculpture – a “sculpture-painting”

(left) Tomás Maldonado (1921- ) Argentinian-born, painter, industrial designer, and theorist) design for the cover of Arturo (“a review of abstract arts”), 1944, which lauched the Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención and Madi movements

(right) Joaquin Torres-Garcia, Composition, oil on wood, 1931. Central influence on young, non-figurative artists.

Tomás Maldonado, Untitled, 1945, tempera on cardboard mounted on varnished wood, 79 x 60 cm. “problem” of the frame – sculpture/painting

Manuel Espinosa (Argentine, b. 1912) Painting, 1945, oil on board, 88 x 47 cm.

Lidy Prati, Concreto, 1945oil on board, 62 x 48 cm.

Gyula Kosice, Madí Luminous Structure, neon, 1946

Gyula Kosice, Royi, Articulated Sculpture, 1944, wood

Lygia Clark (Brazil, 1920-1988), at work in Rio de Janeiro 1958,

(left) Lygia Clark, Relief Painting with Yellow Square, oil, 1957, 30 in. HBrazilian Neoconcretism

compare: Kasimir Malevich, Suprematism, White on White, 1918

Lygia Clark, Sundial, 1960, 3 views, Neoconcretism compare with (LR) Max Bill, 1947-8 Tripartite Unity, Concretism

Lygia Clark, Machine Animal (Bicho), 1962, aluminum, 55x65, Sao Paulo

Lygia Clark, Rubber Grub, 1964 (1986), rubber, 56 in.H Museo de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro

Lygia Clark, Mandala, from the series, Collective Body, 1959, Elastic bands linking people at

their wrists or ankles

Lygia Clark, Air & Stone (Multiple) 1966, inflated plastic bag and stone

(left) Lygia Clark, Mask with Mirrors, 1967; (below) Dialogue, 1968The mask holds small movable mirrors in front of the eyes, juxtaposing and fracturing reflections of the self and the surrounding world. (right) Clark, Sensorial Gloves, 1968. Part of Nostalgia of the Body series.Gloves are made of various materials, sizes and textures. Participants use the many combinations of gloves and balls of different sizes, textures and weights, and then hold the balls again with bare hands.

Lygia Clark, Individual Therapy with Relational Objects, Rio de Janeiro, 1975

Lygia Clark & Helio Oiticica, Dialogue of Hands (multiple), 1966, Elastic Moebius band

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYRcKaXw6EQ

(left) Hélio Oiticica (Brazil, 1937-1980), White Crossing Red – Metaschema1968, oil, 21 in. high. Concretism(right) Piet Mondrian, Tableau, 1921, Neoplasticism, and Kasimir Malevich, Suprematism, White on White, 1918

Hélio Oiticica, Spatial Relief, 1959, synthetic polymer paint on wood, 38x48x8”compare (right) Alexander Rodchenko 1891-1956, Spatial Relief, 1920, Russian

Constructivism

Helio Oiticica, Glass BolidePortuguese word for fireball or flaming meteor 4 Earth, 1964, Glass, earth, and painted gauze

Helio Oiticica, Box Bolide, 1964, painted wood and glass, 20 in H, Rio de Janeiro

Hélio Oiticica, Tropicalia, 1967, installation exhibited in the New Brazilian Objectivity exhibition at the Museu de Arte Moderna in Rio de Janeiro

Helio Oiticica, Nildo, of the Mangueira samba group, wearing Parangolés, 1964Oiticica defined the Parangole as "anti-art par excellence" and discussed his aspirations "to create new experimental conditions where the artist takes on the role of proposer,

impresario or even educator.”

Helio Oiticica, Mosquito of Mangueira wearing Cape 6 (Paragole 10), 1965, and dancing with Glass Bolide 5 (Homage to Mondrian), 1964

This entire experience into which art flows, the issue of liberty

itself, of the expansion of the individual's consciousness, of the

return to myth, the rediscovery of rhythm, dance, the body, the

senses, which finally are what we have as weapons of direct,

perceptual, participatory knowledge . . . is revolutionary in the total sense

of behavior. (Oiticica)

Lygia Pape (Brazil, 1929-2004) Pages from The Book of Creation, 1959, painted card, each c. 30x30 cm. Neo-Concrete. Genesis narrative of human development in abstract geometric metaphors that can be manipulated by the viewer turned co-creator.

Lygia Pape, Väviska, 1957

Lygia Pape, The Keel – Cutting through Time, page from The Book of Creation, 1959

Lygia Pape, Divisor, 1968, 98 ft. cotton square. “Mathematical order was once again displaced by people’s movements and speech.” (Guy Brett)

Sérgio de Camargo (Brazil, 1930 – 1990) Large Split Relief No.34/4/74 , painted wood, 1964-5, c. 200x100cm, Tate Gallery, London. Neo-Concretism

detail

Gego (Gertrude Goldschmidt, b. Germany, 1912-17; d. Venezuela, 1994), Vibrations in Black, 1957, aluminium, 75 x 60 x 43 cm, Sammlung Fundación Gego, Caracas

Gego, Untitled, 1955. Watercolor and ink on cardboard, 10 15/16 x 9 1/16 inches. Fundación Gego Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

From the series: Drawings without PaperGego created these types of works beginning in 1976/1977. They are assemblages of wires, elements from building blocks, hangers, and other found and modified objects.

The 2003 Venice Biennale exhibited her works as “Structures for Survival”

Wire Drawing Without Paper lighted to produceequivalent shadow

Detail showing construction

Gego, Reticularia, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, 1969

Gego, installation photo,1989(?)

Gego, Reticularea, 1975, stainless steel wire, 83 X 102 X 8 inches, Houston MFA

Gego, "Drawing Without Paper 83/9," 1983. Aluminum hoop, plastic mesh, plastic hoops, enameled iron wire, and metal pieces, 8 1/4 x 7 1/16 x 3/16 inches. Fundación Gego Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.