Imagine Brazil

Imagine Brazil is the result of a curatorship by three prominent names in the international art scene: the Swiss Hans Ulrich Obrist, Norwegian Gunnar Kvaran and French Thierry Raspail. These curators embody the idea of the plural and peripatetic thinking curator of today. Their outsider's take on the production of the emerging Brazilian pop generation resulted in the exhibition that first opened in Oslo and that then arrived at the Tomie Othake in São Paulo. Initially, Brazilian curator Paulo Herkenhoff was part of the curatorial team, but he had to leave the project on account of over-commitments. For nearly five years, these curators travelled to Brazil, visited workshops, galleries, museums and universities, and observed the local scene. The 14 artists that participate in the exhibition are young emerging talents that are beginning to assert themselves in the art scene. They share having arrived at adulthood as part of a globalized reality, subjected to international influences and dialogues, not solely between art forms, but also between different areas of life, as they extrapolate the boundaries of art. The organizers decided that each participant should invite an artist from a previous generation whose work has influenced his/her own and was representative of the contemporary art scene. Two of the already consolidated creators are actually musicians and not from the visual arts field, which shows the interpenetration of different fields of culture. The result is an exhibition that gives an overview of recent contemporary production, positioning itself in the history of art by weaving connections with that which is already consecrated but remains active and vibrant nonetheless. The initial idea was to present the European public more familiar with the strong heritage of the Brazilian constructivist art, an example of a new generation that, unlike prefers a more conceptual narrative, the result of interest in social and political matters boil, expressed through innovative languages and the use of multiple techniques. The list of participants for the Brazilian edition of the event in São Paulo has decreased. In includes Paulo Nazareth, Marcellvs L., Jonathas de Andrade, Deyson Gilbert, Sofía Borges, Sara Ramo, Rodrigo Cass, Adriano Costa, Cinthia Marcelle, Thiago Martins de Melo, Rodrigo Matheus, Paulo Nimer Pjota, Mayana Redin and Gustavo Speridião. The artist that these regard as referents and therefore chose to invite are: J J. Borges, xylographer (chosen by Paulo Nazareth), Arrigo Barnabé, musician (Marcellvs L.), Caetano Veloso, musician (Jonathas de Andrade), Montez Magno, painter (Deyson Gilbert), Maria Martins, sculptor (Sofia Borges), Cildo Meirelles (Sara Ramo), Rivane Neuenschwander (Rodrigo Cass), Tunga (Adriano Costa and Thiago Martins de Melo), Pedro Moraleida (Cinthia Marcelle), Fernanda Gomes (Rodrigo Matheus), Adriana Varejão (Paulo Nimer Pjota), Milton Machado (Mayana Redin) and Carlos Zílio (Gustavo Speridião). The works by the two generations are not displayed in direct dialogue, but rather freely arranged across the exhibition space. Although the younger artists selected the elders ones, the actual selection of works for the exhibition was performed by the curatorial team.