SOME MAY WORK AS SYMBOLS: ART MADE IN BRAZIL, 1950S–70S

In Brazil’s mid-twentieth-century art scene, new, diverse artistic approaches emerged after its first Modernist wave. Curated by Pablo Lafuente and Thiago de Paula Souza, the group exhibition Some May Work As Symbols highlights the interactions between abstraction, symbolism, and figuration, addressing exclusions in Brazilian art history by showcasing works by 30 artists. Celebrated internationally now, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro Concretists like Judith Lauand, Lygia Clark, Hélio Oiticica, and Lygia Pape crafted abstract geometries. Simultaneously, Afro-Brazilian symbology, developed by Mestre Didi, Abdias Nascimento, and Rubem Valentim, referenced spiritual practices like Candomblé. Street scenes, domestic life, and agricultural labour also find space through artists like Silvia de Leon Chalreo, Heitor dos Prazeres, and Madalena Santos Reinbolt. 

Showing until May 5, 2024, Raven Row, London