Art history timeline atlas
Brazilian Modernism And Neo-Concrete
Brazilian modernism and Neo-Concrete art moved from national modern identity to participatory objects, body, color and public experience.
Postwar Experiments And Global Networks
Historical context
Brazilian artists transformed European modernist languages through local histories, Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian references, urban change and political pressure.
Neo-Concrete artists rejected cold geometry by making works that asked viewers to touch, wear, move or complete them.
How to look
- Look beyond one center. Postwar art moves through New York, Paris, Mexico City, Lagos, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Seoul and many other networks.
- Notice how the artwork becomes action, environment, document, idea, institution critique, body politics or public argument.
Makers, works, and materials
Date range: c. 1922-1970
Regions: Latin America, Americas
Media: Painting, Sculpture, Design, Performance, Participatory object
Movements: Brazilian modernism, Concrete art, Neo-Concrete
Makers to research
- Tarsila do Amaral
- Lygia Clark
- Helio Oiticica
- Lygia Pape
Named works to compare
- Brazilian modernist paintings
- Bichos
- Parangoles
- Neo-Concrete works
A sculpture that asks to be handled
Lygia Clark's hinged Bichos are not only looked at. Their meaning changes when a viewer moves them, making participation part of form.
Legacy and why it matters
Brazilian modernism and Neo-Concrete art add Latin American abstraction, participation and body-centered experience to the atlas.