Ruptura at Luciana Brito NY Project

Ruptura is the first installment in a series of three exhibitions mounted at pop up gallery Luciana Brito-NY Project – a joint venture by the São Paulo gallery of the same name and New York’s Espasso Gallery. Mounted in a former Tribeca restaurant till 6 November, the showcase – developed with art critic João Bandeira – presents an extensive collection of drawings, paintings and sculptures from the seminal Grupo Ruptura; a major Brazilian art movement that, in the 1950s, promoted a fierce modernisation of the visual arts. In addition, the works are strategically accompanied by key furniture pieces – best demonstrated in a series of dramatic walk-in freezer installations.

Comprised of Geraldo de Barros, Waldemar Cordeiro, Luiz Sacilotto, Lothar Charoux, Kazmer Féjer, Leopoldo Haar and Anatol Wladyslaw, the international assortment began exploring the primal essentials of geometry, colour, and movement rather than naturalistic expression or impression. For them, works of art were not hermeneutic but sublime concepts in and of themselves; following set principles like rhythm, polarity and displacement. Much of their ethos drew from Constructivism. In 1952, the São Paulo-based collective drafted a utopian manifesto, affirmed by a seminal exhibition at the Museu de Arte Modernade São Paulo. With wide influence, their philosophy translated well into the burgeoning furniture design scene of the time, as evident in this exhibition.

Luciana Gallery: 186 Franklin St. New York
Ruptura till 6 November