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Born in Fortaleza on May 26, 1922, Antonio Bandeira managed to follow an unusual path within the scope of Brazilian art. An independent artist amidst the local influences of his time – even though extremely active in his social environment – ​​he did not seek out the stylistic and geographical regionalisms that sometimes fueled artists of his generation. He remained on the margins of schools and styles, never lending his name to the declarations of aesthetic faith so in vogue at that time.

Demanding and methodical, defined by his peers as a serious, laconic artist with a “monastic coziness”, he worked diligently throughout his life, leaving us with a surprising production not only for its quality and sensitivity, but also for its volume. Furthermore, he devoted special attention to his own persona, feeding myths and narratives about his biography and cultivating his image, thus creating a character that often aroused as much interest as his work.

Apparently abstract lines, colors, weaves, stains and splashes effectively print, in the artist's words, “landscapes, seascapes, trees, seaports, cities, in short, travel notes. I start from realism and then trim the branches until I reach the point that my sensitivity demands. […] Nature was and will always be my granary”. This joyful commitment to life guided his approach and assimilation of the international language of abstract art. As Ferreira Gullar would summarize, Bandeira “made use of the possibilities of the new language to express his loving relationship with the reality he lived and the reality he had lived”.

The present exhibition brings together a set of around 70 works – canvases, gouaches and watercolors –, covering different moments of his artistic production, from the first figurative paintings to the large canvases with dense weaves and drips of recent years, and has its genesis in the exhibition Antonio Bandeira: an abstractionist who is a friend of life, held at Espaço Cultural Unifor, Fortaleza, from August to December 2017.

Regina Teixeira de Barros and Giancarlo Hannud
Curators

Service:
Antonio Bandeira
Opening: Tuesday, December 10, 2019, at 20pm
Visitation: December 11, 2019 to March 01, 2020
Location: São Paulo Museum of Modern Art
Address: Parque Ibirapuera (av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, s/nº – Gates 1 and 3)
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am to 17:30pm (staying until 18pm)
Phone Number: (11) 5085-1300

Entrance: R$ 10,00. Free on Saturdays. Half price for students and teachers, subject to identification.

Free for children under 10 and over 60, people with disabilities, MAM members and students, employees of partner companies and museums, members of ICOM, AICA and ABCA with identification, environmental agents, CET, GCM, PM, Metro and employees of the yellow line of the Metro, CPTM, Civil Police, bus collectors and drivers, chartered bus drivers, SPTuris employees, street vendors in Ibirapuera Park, gas station attendants and taxi drivers with identification and up to 4 companions.

Free scheduling of group visits by phone. 5085-1313 and email
educational@mam.org.br
atendimento@mam.org.br

www.mam.org.br
@MAMoficial

On-site parking (Blue Zone: R$5,00 for 2 hours)
Access for people with disabilities
Restaurant/cafe
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Press information
a4&spotlight communication
Neila Carvalho
neilacarvalho@a4eholofote.com.br
+55 11 99916 5094
Anne Tavares
anetavares@a4eholofote.com.br
+55 11 98865 2580

Antonio Bandeira, Untitled, 1957, Oil on canvas, 92,0 x 92,0 cm, Orandi Momesso Collection, São Paulo. IAB-1112 / support Instituto Antonio Bandeira