artnexus #52

From the earliest moments of his career, Nelson Leirner (São Paulo, 1932) has developed an attitude of permanent irony, provocation, and playfulness. His irreverent tone was already apparent in the mid-1960s when together with artists Resende, Nasser, de Barros, among others, Leirner founded Grupo Rex; the group published several issues of their newspaper Rex Time, in which they presented themselves as “avant-garde art specialists.” Leirner’s famous 1967 “case of the pig” also aroused fiery debates at the 4th Brasilia Salon of Modern Art.

From the earliest days up until his more recent work, Leirner has continued to exploit mass culture, by highlighting its tendency to fetishize, and by deploying appropriations of ready-made and using references to the History of Art. Leirner has a particular predilection for the use of manufactured objects, which he turns into art objects charged with a fine sense of humor alluding to urban situations. The mark of sarcasm and irony Leirner imprints on his works provokes viewers into more than passive observers, through his de-sacralizing attitude towards art. In Leirner’s view, the union of two elements must generate a third one, which will find its own meaning if the process is to be fruitful.

Along with his artistic work, Leirner carries out a significant task as a university professor, both in São Paulo and in Rio, continuing to influence the education of young new artists. 

IVONNE PINI