2nd Autumn Salon of Latin America (SOAL)
Aimed at promoting a diversity of languages in the visual arts, throughout history Salons have been central referents for democracy in the arts. Recently, the presentation of the 2nd Autumn Salon of Latin America (SOAL) at the Fundación Memorial de América Latina in São Paulo, was proof that such goal is very much part of this type of general exhibition.
With the endorsement of the centenary Salon d'Automne in Paris, the Latin American version selected 129 artists from eighteen countries in South America, Europe, Africa and Asia, to participate in the categories of painting, photography, sculpture, installation, artist's book, and graphic arts. Many of the participants are unknown or debutants in the artistic circuit. The event also had the support of the Embassies of France and Uruguay, the Brazil-France Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance Française (AF), and of the Asociaciones de Protección de los Derechos de Autor y Profesional de los Artistas Plásticos de São Paulo.
For this edition, the event paid tribute to Brazilian painter Cândido Portinari (1903-1962). For this purpose, the official inauguration took place at the Salón de Actos Tiradentes, a space that is part of the Memorial that preserves one of the most important works by Portinari: the panel entitled Tiradentes. The show also included videos, photos and documents, along with a catalog of the Exhibition of Brazilian Artists at the Paris Salon in 1947, in which Portinari's participation stood out.
In the catalog of the exhibition, Noël Coret, president of the Salon d´Automne, underscores the democratic nature of a salon that—without answering to the "norms" dictated by the highly speculative artistic circuit—privileges beauty, in accordance with the guidelines established by the philosophical thought of Kant, who in his The Critique of Judgment affirms: "Beauty is that which is universally pleasing, without concept […]."
Therefore, this salon became an alternative to the curatorial readings that generally direct the viewer's senses toward some specific purpose. This freedom of enjoyment tides the extremes of knowledge and experience; it offers the immediate contact with the work, independently from history, theories and critiques. Contemplation contributes to the construction of knowledge through the practice of approaching those who enjoy the work as a subjective, unique and non-transferable moment.
Of formal expressive value in all the categories, the works selected reveal the power of figuration, of colors, of sculptural three-dimensionality and of photography as language, among other things. It is possible, for instance, to witness the appeal of figuration by observing works like Un Poco Siempre Exuda por los Poros (A Little Always Seeps Through the Pores), an acrylic painting by Andréa Facchini, who portrays women curled between braids and colorful fabrics; or also like Beso a la Luz de la Luna (Kiss under the Moonlight), by Ângela Oskar, a painting in which characters of Brazilian history—Lampião and Maria Bonita—are shown kissing in a composition that resembles The Kiss by Klimt.
Works like those demonstrate the merit in the selection by a jury formed by Ângela Barbour, Cássio Lázaro, Cirton Genaro, Claude Martin Vaskou, Eliana Minillo, Noël Coret and Walter Miranda. Their selection was sensible and fortunate in that it showcased works that speak for themselves through the compelling power of their aesthetic strength. Thus, the group of works became a wide-ranging artistic offer of unquestionable quality; a banquet for the senses.
Alessandra Mello Simões-Paiva is a journalist and art critic. She...
