MAM Garden at Sesc
The MAM Sculpture Garden is a landmark in Ibirapuera Park, an iconic place for leisure and socializing in the city of São Paulo. As a transition zone between the MAM and its urban habitat, the garden transcends the boundaries of conventional museum space and, without obstructing the passage of those who walk there, provides the public with a shared space to enjoy through art. Officially inaugurated in 1993, the history of the MAM Garden follows the development of the museum itself and its presence in Ibirapuera Park. Documents indicate that, shortly after the inauguration of the MAM headquarters in the park in 1969, the museum soon became concerned with the care of the works sparsely present there and committed to creating a “Sculpture Garden” with works from its own collection. With the renovation in the 1980s, which established the museum’s characteristic glass façade and transformed its relationship with the park and the city, the use of the Garden was intensified. The curatorial organization was consolidated in 1993, when the works were repositioned, and the space between the Oca, the Bienal pavilion and the MAM received landscaping designed by the office of Roberto Burle Marx, in partnership with Haruyoshi Ono.
Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994) was one of the great names of Brazilian modernism, with a body of work that, through various mediums, contributed to the fields of landscaping, urbanism and ecology. His contributions were essential to consolidating gardens as forms of artistic expression capable of redefining spaces of circulation and, especially, of public importance. Between 1992 and 1993, Burle Marx carried out a landscaping project for Ibirapuera Park that included, in particular, the external area of the MAM and the works from his collection exhibited there. The Sculpture Garden had already been part of two previous versions of Burle Marx's project for the Park, in 1953 and 1974, but it was only in the 1990s that it was fully completed. Conceived by the author as “a space to encourage the practice of artistic coexistence within the community”, the landscaping in the MAM Garden introduced new plant species – grouped together to highlight their common features and, at the same time, explore their different textures and colors – and established paths made of gravel, pebbles and grass, which lead visitors to the works.
At a time when MAM is away from its headquarters due to renovations to the Ibirapuera Park marquee, we propose a kind of reenactment of the MAM Garden at Sesc Vila Mariana, but without any intention of literally reconstituting its plant elements or presenting the same works that make up the original space. Influenced by the voluminous production of Burle Marx, especially the drawings and paintings created during the design process of many of his landscape projects, we have created an exhibition design whose architecture is based on the spatialities, colors, shapes and lines of two important projects: the MAM Sculpture Garden, in Ibirapuera Park, and the garden of the Gustavo Capanema Palace, the former headquarters of the Ministry of Education and Health, in Rio de Janeiro. The former project produced the “islands” that group the works in the exhibition and the topographical variations of the MAM Garden terrain, reflected in the different heights that configure these “islands.” The colors and designs of the bases were inspired by a painting by Burle Marx, created as a study for the garden of the Gustavo Capanema Palace in 1938, which projects an area delimited by sinuous contours and represents different plant species with a variety of colored spots, equally sinuous.
The exhibition at Sesc Vila Mariana includes works that are part of, or have been part of, the set on display at the Ibirapuera Park Sculpture Garden and works from the MAM collection that relate, in different ways, to nature, the body, the city, materiality, and to languages that express some of the inescapable tensions in society. Similar to the activations routinely carried out by MAM Educativo in the Sculpture Garden, the museum's educators will carry out actions during the exhibition period that will highlight various ways of relating to Burle Marx's landscaping that we reinterpret here.
Cauê Alves and Gabriela Gotoda
curators
Places to visit, attitudes to combine
Sesc units are full of options for spending free time. In them, the public can enjoy different environments and experiences, in combined and often casual ways. Their architecture and programmatic activities favor unexpected encounters, fostering states of surprise in the face of things that go beyond the initial intentions of each person or group to attend. This expanded access policy includes connections with other institutions, as in the case of the current partnership with the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in São Paulo.
Originating in Ibirapuera Park, the MAM Sculpture Garden now arrives at Sesc Vila Mariana, where it will remain for a few months. It plays with the overlapping of urban landmarks – when, metaphorically speaking, one place visits another. Modern and contemporary three-dimensional pieces temporarily leave the museum’s surroundings and spread throughout the open plan of this unit, inviting more or less fleeting appreciation. The exhibition configuration that re-presents them here is inspired by the landscaping of Roberto Burle Marx, an exponent of Brazilian modernism.
This sculptural ensemble spreads out along the path of those who occasionally go to the cafeteria, the dental clinic, the swimming pool, or the gym. It is an invitation to discoveries in transit. This, in fact, is one of the strengths of Sesc's educational work, in its informal form, with aesthetic enjoyment being articulated with the movements of life. In this way, the proposal explores displacements in their different meanings, making the momentary transfer of the “sculptural garden” yet another opportunity to combine distracted and contemplative attitudes.
Luiz Deoclecio Massaro Galina
Director of Sesc Sao Paulo
credits: Leda Catunda, MAM, 1998. Photo: Romulo Fialdini
Accessibility
- Provision of catalogs in digital version that can be processed by reading and screen magnification systems (click here to access the publications); audio guide resources with audio description and video guide in Libras with subtitles in Portuguese in the exhibitions;
- digital Libras tool using Hand Talk technology and font and color control tool for people with low vision when visiting the website;
- use of descriptive captions and alternative text in posts on social media, with the hashtag #DescriptionDoVideo and hashtag #PraTodoMundoVer;
- Provision of tactile and multisensory materials of works from the collection
In addition to the above measures, it is possible to schedule free guided visits with educators for the general public with the Education Department. deaf, visually impaired, physically disabled, intellectually disabled e mental health equipment users and situation of social vulnerability and alternative times planned for public service within the Autistic Spectrum Disorder according to the distinct characteristics of each subject considered in relation to: socialization, sensoriality, communicability and autonomy. request by email educational@mam.org.br
Sign language interpreter and live audio description in activities when requested with up to 48 hours in advance request by email educational@mam.org.br
In certain activities, additional accessibility measures may be offered, which will be indicated in the promotional materials.
Amilcar de Castro, Untitled, 1971. Collection of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo. Photo: Romulo Fialdini
Haroldo Barroso, Untitled, 1977. Collection of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo. Photo: Romulo Fialdini
Hisao Ohara, Twisted Stone, 1985. Collection of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo. Photo: Romulo Fialdini
Marepe, The Roof, 1998. Collection of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo. Photo: Marcelo Arruda
Luiz 83, Untitled, 2025. Collection of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo. Photo: Renato Parada
Hisao Ohara
Felícia Leirner
She was a Polish sculptor who became a naturalized Brazilian citizen. She arrived in Brazil in 1927 and began her artistic career at the age of 44. With works marked by formal synthesis and lyrical expression, she was part of the Brazilian modernist generation.
Marepe
is a visual artist known for works that combine sculpture, installation and performance with everyday objects from the Northeast. His work explores themes such as displacement, identity and social inequality, with humor and lyricism.
Photo: Zanone Fraissat | Folhapress
Regina Silveira
She graduated in Fine Arts from the UFRGS Institute of Arts (1959), in addition to having a master's degree (1980) and Ph.D. (1984) from the School of Communication and Arts at USP – University of São Paulo. The artist participated in several biennials, such as Bienal de São Paulo (1981, 1983, 1998, 2021); Curitiba International Biennial (2013, 2015); Mercosul Biennial (2001, 2011), in Porto Alegre and La Habana Biennial, in Cuba (1986, 1998 and 2015). Some of his most recent group exhibitions are Walking through Walls (Martin Gropius Bau, Germany, 2019) and Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985 (Hammer Museum, USA, 2017). Regina's latest solo exhibitions are: thresholds (Paço das Artes, Brazil, 2020); Up There (Farol Santander, Brazil, 2019); EXIT (MuBE, Brazil, 2018); Unrealized (Alexander Gray Associates, USA, 2019); All Stairs (Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz, Brazil, 2018), and Crash (Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Brazil, 2015). Among others, he received the MASP Prize (2013), the APCA Prize for his career (2011) and the Fundação Bunge Prize (2009). The artist has also received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (1990), the Pollock-Krasner Foundation (1993), and the Fulbright Foundation (1994).
Ivens Machado
He was a sculptor, engraver, designer and pioneer of video art in Brazil. His work is marked by the use of raw materials such as concrete, iron and wood, exploring themes such as violence, sexuality and social memory. In the 1970s, he stood out with performances and videos that addressed the body and political repression.
Photo: Rodrigo Trevisan/Disclosure
Bruno Giorgi
was a Brazilian sculptor of Italian origin, prominent in Brazilian modernism. The son of Italian immigrants, he moved to Rome with his family in 1911. In the 1920s, he became involved in anti-fascist movements, was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison. After serving four years, he was extradited to Brazil by diplomatic intervention. In 1937, he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and the Académie Ranson in Paris, where he was a student of Aristide Maillol and spent time with Henry Moore and Marino Marini. Returning to Brazil in 1939, he joined the modernist movement, collaborating with artists such as Vitor Brecheret and Mário de Andrade. In 1943, he settled in Rio de Janeiro, where he worked as a teacher and mentor to young artists. His work is marked by geometric shapes and abstraction, using materials such as bronze and marble.
Ottone Zorlini
He was an Italian-Brazilian painter, sculptor, designer and ceramist. Born into a humble family, he began his professional career at the age of 13, working in a ceramics factory. He moved to Venice, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and attended the studios of sculptors Umberto Feltrin and Guido Cacciapuoti. In 1927, he immigrated to Brazil, settling in São Paulo. Here, he stood out for the production of public monuments, such as the Monument to the Heroes of the Atlantic Crossing, at the Guarapiranga dam. In addition, he actively participated in the artistic life of São Paulo, joining the group of painters who attended live model sessions, such as Alfredo Volpi, Mário Zanini and Penacchi. Zorlini was also responsible for several tombs and busts in cemeteries in São Paulo. He died in 1967, leaving a significant legacy in Brazilian visual arts.
Mário Agostinelli
was a Peruvian painter and sculptor who lived in Brazil. He studied at the National School of Fine Arts with Daniel Hernandez. He arrived in Brazil in 1945, holding his first exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro. After living in France and the United States, he settled permanently in Brazil in 1969, acquiring Brazilian citizenship. His work ranges from expressionism to abstraction, with emphasis on bronze sculptures of human and animal figures.
Nicolas Vlavianos
He was a Greek sculptor and designer who lived in Brazil since 1959. A graduate of the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and the Urbanism Institute of the University of Paris, he began his career influenced by constructivism and kinetic art. His sculptures, usually in metal, explore movement, space and balance.
Photo: Mastrangelo Reino/Folhapress
Luiz 83
Luiz 83 is the stage name of Luiz dos Santos Menezes. Self-taught, his training stems from the experience acquired on the city streets as a “tagger”, an activity that offered the beginning of a plastic vocabulary that has been refined based on research that the artist develops with a considerable degree of inventiveness in more conventional means such as drawing , painting and sculpture. His professional experience as an art exhibition organizer also offers him the opportunity to remain in close contact with works of a classic and contemporary nature, an opportunity that results in sensitively assimilated knowledge. In his works it is possible to perceive a very peculiar and undoubtedly sophisticated type of concretism in the formal solutions and conceptual arrangements and of a POP nature, a quality also perceived through a chromaticism that generally favors bright colors with intense luminosity. The artist has also dedicated himself to performances where he questions the social place of black people and thematizes the relationship between the body and his artistic work and interactions with the city. The artist participated in several individual and collective exhibitions, including the solo exhibition “Z” at the Tato gallery and the collective exhibitions “Tendências da Street Art” at the Museu Brasileiro de Escultura and “Pretatitude: insurgencies, emergencies and affirmations in contemporary Afro-Brazilian art ” at SESC Ribeirão Preto, São Carlos, Vila Mariana and Santos”.
Amilcar de Castro
was a Brazilian sculptor, designer, engraver, layout artist and teacher, recognized as one of the leading names in neoconcretism in Brazil. His sculptural work is marked by the use of iron sheets cut and folded in a single operation, exploring the relationship between form, space and matter.
Mari Yoshimoto
She was a Brazilian artist, sculptor, jeweler and costume designer of Japanese descent. Her artistic training was broad and interdisciplinary: she studied painting with Massao Okinaka (1955–1957), contemporary architecture at the Goethe Institute, art history, ethnology and archaeology at MASP, aesthetics with Anatol Rosenfeld, theater with Zé Celso and visual communication with Flávio Império.
Emanoel Araujo
was a Brazilian visual artist, curator and museologist, recognized for his contribution to the appreciation of Afro-Brazilian culture.
Born into a family of goldsmiths, he began his artistic training in his youth, working in carpentry and typography. He studied at the School of Fine Arts of the Federal University of Bahia, excelling in engraving and sculpture. In 1972, he received the gold medal at the 3rd International Biennial of Graphic Art in Florence.
Photo: Afro Brazil Museum/Disclosure
Rubens Mano
is a Brazilian visual artist whose work investigates the relationship between space, image and urban landscape. Graduated in Architecture and Urbanism from the Faculty of Santos in 1984, he deepened his studies in photography and completed a master's degree in Visual Poetics from the School of Communications and Arts at USP in 2003.
Marcia Pastore
She is a Brazilian visual artist whose work spans sculpture, installation and architecture. Since the late 1980s, she has been developing research that investigates the relationship between body, space and matter, using materials such as iron, plaster, rubber, glass, steel cables and architectural elements. Her works explore physical forces such as tension, weight and balance, creating structures that interact with the exhibition space and challenge the viewer's perception.
Eliane Prolik
She is a Brazilian visual artist whose work ranges from sculpture to installation and object, exploring the relationship between form, space and perception. She holds a degree in Painting and a specialization in 20th Century Art History from the School of Music and Fine Arts of Paraná (EMBAP). She furthered her studies in Italy with the artist Luciano Fabro, linked to arte povera, at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, in Milan.
Since the late 1980s, Prolik has developed a three-dimensional production marked by geometric structures that unfold in space, using materials such as copper, aluminum and steel. His works often evoke everyday objects, tensioning perception between the familiar and the abstract, the light and the heavy, the static and the dynamic.
Haroldo Barroso
He was a Brazilian sculptor, architect and landscaper whose work stands out for its integration of art, architecture and urban landscape. Graduated in Architecture from the University of Brazil in 1959, he collaborated with Roberto Burle Marx between 1954 and 1960, participating in projects for gardens, panels and sculptural murals.
His sculptural production, marked by geometric shapes and materials such as wood, metal and granite, is present in public spaces such as the Palácio do Planalto, in Brasília, and the Mosteiro de São Bento, in Rio de Janeiro. Also noteworthy is the “Monument to Youth”, installed in 1974 near the Maracanã Stadium, in Rio de Janeiro.
| Exposure: | MAM Garden at Sesc |
| Location: | Sesc Vila Mariana |
| Curatorship: | Cauê Alves and Gabriela Gotoda |
| Opening: | May 14, Wednesday, at 19pm |
| Exhibition period: | May 15th to August 31th, 2025 |
| Address: | R. Pelotas, 141 – Vila Mariana, Sao Paulo – SP |
| Free admission |