[KINETIC ART AND POP ART IN BRASIL] Arte cinética e pop arte [Kinetic art and pop art]

Standalone edition, the first to be illustrated, of an essay by the Brazilian art critic Flávio Motta (1923-2016), first published in "Jornal do Brasil" (November 1967). Motta presents an analysis of the works chosen for the IX São Paulo Biennial, by artists including Julio Le Parc, Hopper, George Segal, Lichtenstein, Warhol, Steinberg, Paul Harris, Richard Smith, Oldenburg, Malcolm Morley, Jaspers Johns, Pistoletto, Alain Jacquet.

The IX São Paulo Biennial - also known as the Pop Art Biennial - marks a turning point in Brazilian cultural policy. On the eve of the opening, the police removed a sculpture by Cybele Varela, near which was a map of Brazil and a picture of a military general and a series of paintings by Quissak Jr. The work was eventually destroyed and Varela was interrogated by the secret police. An arrest was only narrowly avoided. Three years earlier, generals from the army and navy had overthrown the democratically elected government of Joo Goulart. The scandal in São Paulo marked the beginning of a series of such official interventions that restricted artistic freedom. From then on, not only were works confiscated, but exhibitions were also closed, such as an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro, which showed selected works from the 6th Biennale de Jeunes in Paris. The curators of the subsequent X. Biennial in Sao Paulo were warned in writing that there would be problems if they showed something that the regime considered unacceptable. As a result, 80 percent of the invited artists refused to take part in the exhibition. (Cf. https://artreview.com/september-2018-feature-on-the-eve-of-the-bienal/, April 6, 2024)

As of March 2024, KVK, OCLC show four copies, all in North America. Standalone edition, the first to be illustrated, of an essay by the Brazilian art critic Flávio Motta (1923-2016), first published in "Jornal do Brasil" (November 1967). Motta presents an analysis of the works chosen for the IX São Paulo Biennial, by artists including Julio Le Parc, Hopper, George Segal, Lichtenstein, Warhol, Steinberg, Paul Harris, Richard Smith, Oldenburg, Malcolm Morley, Jaspers Johns, Pistoletto, Alain Jacquet.

The IX São Paulo Biennial - also known as the Pop Art Biennial - marks a turning point in Brazilian cultural policy. On the eve of the opening, the police removed a sculpture by Cybele Varela, near which was a map of Brazil and a picture of a military general and a series of paintings by Quissak Jr. The work was eventually destroyed and Varela was interrogated by the secret police. An arrest was only narrowly avoided. Three years earlier, generals from the army and navy had overthrown the democratically elected government of Joo Goulart. The scandal in São Paulo marked the beginning of a series of such official interventions that restricted artistic freedom. From then on, not only were works confiscated, but exhibitions were also closed, such as an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro, which showed selected works from the 6th Biennale de Jeunes in Paris. The curators of the subsequent X. Biennial in Sao Paulo were warned in writing that there would be problems if they showed something that the regime considered unacceptable. As a result, 80 percent of the invited artists refused to take part in the exhibition. (Cf. https://artreview.com/september-2018-feature-on-the-eve-of-the-bienal/, April 6, 2024)

As of March 2024, KVK, OCLC show four copies, all in North America.