FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RIO DE JANEIRO PRESENTS ARTEVIDA
A CITY-WIDE EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY ART
Multi-Site Exhibition Exploring the Relationship Between Art and Life Opens June 27
New Work Commissioned from Georges Adéagbo to be Unveiled July 19
Anna Bella Geiger (b. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1933)
História do Brasil – Little boys and girls, 1975,
photograph and collage, artist's collection.
Rio de Janeiro, June 26, 2014 — The Rio de Janeiro State Culture
Secretariat presents the contemporary art exhibition artevida
(“artlife”) this summer at venues throughout the city of Rio. The
multi-site exhibition examines the interplay between art and life in
the period from the 1950s to the early 1980s, taking art from Brazil,
and particularly Rio de Janeiro, as a point of departure. Curated by
Adriano Pedrosa and Rodrigo Moura, the exhibition is grouped in
four thematic sections and connects art practices through different
concepts, references and contexts, challenging the idea of a singular,
Eurocentric and encyclopedic art history. artevida (corpo), artevida
(arquivo) and artevida (parque) will open June 27. On July 19,
artevida (politica) and a second section of artevida (arquivo) will
open, and a new work by the Benin-based artist Georges Adéagbo
commissioned for the artevida (parque) exhibition will be unveiled.
All of the installations will remain on view through September 21.
“We are very proud to present artevida, an international art show specifically thought out for Rio de
Janeiro, that in this edition seeks to explore connections between our artists and movements and the
international scene – albeit the least obvious and known – in countries from Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa
and our neighbors in the Americas.” said Adriana Rattes, Rio de Janeiro State Secretary of Culture.
“artevida is a project devised to be a yearly event that will help stimulate reflections on art and strengthen
Rio’s already fertile art world.”
Curator Adriano Pedrosa stated, “For artevida, Rodrigo Moura and I decided not to approach the
exhibition as a comprehensive overview or to trace the geneaology of Brazilian artists. artevida is more
fragmented than monolithic, provisional than definite. In the search for other more plural, open and
diverse narratives that develop dialogues between works and documents, the exhibition has a focus on
artists from the Global South, as well as on women artists.”
According to curator Rodrigo Moura, “The visual arts are woven into every aspect of life in Rio de Janeiro.
When we were presented with the opportunity to create an exhibition during the World Cup, Adriano
Pedrosa and I agreed that the entire city should be our canvas to express the interrelated relationship of
art and society rather than trying to contain Rio’s cultural dynamism within a single, traditional art venue.”
An Exhibition In Four Parts
artevida (corpo) and artevida (política) comprise the two main sections of the exhibition and include a
total of more than 250 works by 87 international artists, grouped according to the formal practices and
topics at the heart of Brazil’s avant-garde movements. The exhibition’s other two sections, artevida
(arquivo) and artevida (parque), showcase archival material from two South American artists and outdoor
works of sculpture and installation.
Presented at the Casa França-Brasil, artevida (corpo) considers the self-portrait, the cut, and the body in
transformation, exploring the organic line as an alternative to the orthodoxy of geometric abstraction.
Influences include works by the Brazilian Neo-Concretists such as Lygia Clark’s Bichos and by artists of
Gutai, the Japanese avant-garde movement of the 1950s and 60s.
artevida (política) gathers works made under or in resistance to oppressive political regimes. On view at
the Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM), this section acknowledges the deep connection between politics and
art during Brazil’s military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985. Brazilian art is presented alongside works from
Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Turkey, Lebanon, Croatia and South Africa that call attention to topics
such as the Vietnam War and the effects of colonialism. Works include Cecilia Vicuña’s early 1970s
portraits of revolutionaries, Sue Williamson’s 1980s depictions of South African women who were involved
in the fight for freedom, and Gülsün Karamustafa’s Sketches for the “History of Working Class in Ottoman
and Turkish History.”
Paulo Bruscky, a Brazilian artist and a Fluxus member, is the subject of artevida (arquivo) at Biblioteca do
Estado do Rio de Janeiro, which features his mail-art works, among the 60,000 archival documents
collected by the artist. The second part of artevida (arquivo), opening at Biblioteca Parque Estadual,
includes works from the archive of Argentinean artist Graciela Carnevale and historical material tied to the
Grupo de Arte de Vanguardia de Rosario (Rosario Avant-Garde Art Group) of the late 1960s.
artevida (parque) will be on view at Parque Lage inside the Escola de de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage,
Cavalariças, and on the grounds surrounding the school, and will feature the re-fabrication of Japanese
artist Tsuruko Yamazaki’s 1956 Red (Shape of Mosquito Net) and three wearable sculptures from Brazilian
artist Martha Araújo’s early 1980s series Hábito/Habitante. These works will be joined by a new sitespecific commission by Benin-based artist Georges Adéagbo, known for his found-object installations.
Created specifically for the mews in Parque Lage, the work reflects on the relationship between Africa and
Brazil and the French photographer Pierre Verger’s documentation of the African diaspora.
Visitor Experience
artevida is accompanied by a comprehensive exhibition guide. An academic conference is scheduled for
September 5-6 at Biblioteca Parque Estadual in Rio de Janeiro. A fully illustrated catalogue with
installation images will be published following the exhibition.
Complete exhibition information for each venue is below.
artevida (corpo)
Casa França-Brasil
Opening June 27, 11 am
On view through September 21, 2014
Rua Visconde de Itaborai, 78, Centro - Rio de Janeiro
www.casafrancabrasil.rj.gov.br
21 2332 5120
Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, closed Monday
Admission: Free
artevida (arquivo)
Biblioteca Parque Estadual
Paulo Bruscky
Opening June 27, 1pm
On view through September 21, 2014
Avenida Presidente Vargas, 1261, Centro - Rio de Janeiro
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http://www.cultura.rj.gov.br/espaco/biblioteca-parque-estadual-bpe
21 2332 7225
Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, closed Monday
Admission: Free
Biblioteca Parque Estadual
Graciela Carnevale
Opening July 19, 4pm
On view through September 21, 2014
Avenida Presidente Vargas, 1261, Centro - Rio de Janeiro
http://www.cultura.rj.gov.br/espaco/biblioteca-parque-estadual-bpe
21 2332 7225
Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, closed Monday
Admission: Free
artevida (parque)
Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage
Opening June 27, 3pm
On view through September 21, 2014
Georges Adéagbo’s work, Cavalariças [mews] do Parque Lage
Unveiling July 19, 7pm
On view through September 21, 2014
Rua Jardim Botanico, 414, Jardim Botanico - Rio de Janeiro
www.eavparquelage.rj.gov.br
21 3257 1800
Palacete:
Monday to Thursday 9:00 am to 7:00 pm
Friday to Sunday, 9:00 am-5:00 pm
Cavalariças:
Daily 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Admission: Free
artevida (política)
Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro
Opening July 19, 5pm
On view through September 21, 2014
Avenida Infante Dom Henrique, 85, Parque do Flamengo - Rio de Janeiro
www.mamrio.com.br
21 2240 4944
Tuesday to Friday, Noon – 6:00 pm
Saturdays Sundays and holidays, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Admission: R$14
artevida is commissioned by the Rio de Janeiro State Culture Secretariat, organized by curators Adriano
Pedrosa and Rodrigo Moura and produced by Endora Arte Produções Ltda. The exhibition has been made
possible through support by sponsors Itaú and Petrobras.
A catalogue will be published following the exhibition and a conference will be held on September 5-6 at
Biblioteca Parque Estadual do Rio de Janeiro.
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Artists in the exhibition
Georges Adéagbo, Helena Almeida, Eleanor Antin, Rasheed Araeen, Martha Araújo, Artur Barrio, Lynda
Benglis, Oscar Bony, Geta Brătescu, Paulo Bruscky, Heidi Bucher, Teresa Burga, Luis Camnitzer, Graciela
Carnevale, Antonio Caro, Ricardo Carreira, Rosemarie Castoro, Cengiz Çekil, Saloua Raouda Choucair,
Judy Clark, Lygia Clark, Olga De Amaral, Iole De Freitas, Antonio Dias, Emory Douglas, John Dugger,
Eugenio Espinoza, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Esther Ferrer, Gego, Anna Bella Geiger, Carlos
Ginzburg, Mathias Goeritz, Beatriz González, Tomislav Gotovac, Ion Grigorescu, Zarina Hashmi, Sanja
Iveković, Gavin Jantjes, Birgit Jürgenssen, Gülsün Karamustafa, Bhupen Khakhar, Jürgen Klauke, Běla
Kolářová, Rachid Koraïchi, Edward Krasiński, Nicola L., Seung-Taek Lee, Wesley Duke Lee, Carlos Leppe,
Anna Maria Maiolino, Antonio Manuel, Dóra Maurer, Cildo Meireles, Ana Mendieta, Marisa Merz,
Nasreen Mohamedi, Abdul Hay Mosallam, Saburo Murakami, Senga Nengudi, Maurício Nogueira Lima,
Hitoshi Nomura, Hélio Oiticica, Yoko Ono, Clemente Padín, Margarita Paksa , Gina Pane, Lygia Pape,
Letícia Parente, Luis Fernando Pazos, Claudio Perna, Wanda Pimentel, Julio Plaza, Liliana Porter, Charlotte
Posenenske, Alejandro Puente, Aref Rayess, Yvonne Rainer, Juan Carlos Romero, Lotty Rosenfeld, Martha
Rosler, Zilia Sánchez, Hassan Sharif, Teresinha Soares, Annegret Soltau, Jo Spence, Nancy Spero, Mladen
Stilinović, Jiro Takamatsu, Atsuko Tanaka, Eduardo Terrazas, Cláudio Tozzi, Goran Trbuljak, Keiji Uematsu,
Ulay, Josip Vaništa, Regina Vater, Mohsen Vaziri-Moghaddam , Carlos Vergara, Cecilia Vicuña, Franz
Erhard Walther, Sue Williamson, Nil Yalter, Tsuruko Yamazaki, Horacio Zabala, Carlos Zilio
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Media Contacts:
Maura Klosterman, Polskin Arts & Communications Counselors
[email protected]; T 310-552-4117 M 213-215-4574
Susan Clarke Chandrasekhar, Polskin Arts & Communications Counselors
[email protected]; T 310-552-4181 M 323-377-7327
Sarah Brown McLeod, Polskin Arts & Communications Counselors
[email protected]; T 212-715-1639 M 917-549-3919
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