Sunday 5 October 2014

São Paulo Series - Instituto Cultural Tomie Ohtake

The art tour of São Paulo includes the Instituto Cultural Tomie Ohtake, a building named after a Japanese naturalized Brazilian artist. 

The taxi driver knew the place; I did not have to present him with the piece of paper on which the address was written. This is quite unusual because most taxi drivers do not quite grasp my pronunciation of various places in Portuguese and have to rely on the written word.

The unmistakable shape of Instituto Tomie Ohtake
As soon as I saw the building, I was captivated by the shape and the colours. It is a statement piece and it created an expectation of the place. The reception area is large, with a few art shops on one side and temporary exhibitions on the other side. I love the space and the fact that it was not thronged with people. There were some beautiful hand-made jewelry on sale but they were quite expensive compared to UK prices. 
The reception area

The exhibitions were another matter. The curator has made sure that there is English translation for all the exhibits, which was most unusual in Brazil since English is not much spoken. Still, not much appealed to me. 

Luiz Zerbini "The First Mass"
"The First Mass" struck me as a surreal painting. What is the meaning of the coiled snake on the head of the man dressed as a priest? What is the meaning of his tied hands? What is the meaning of red breasts on a black woman? But the colourful landscape and the exotic vegetation drew me to it. 

Landseer's Black Punishment at Rio de Janeiro
The painting that provoked the deepest thought was Charles Landseer's Black Punishment at Rio de Janeiro. Of course most of us read about the brutal way in which slaves were treated by their masters but seeing the punishment in such a graphical way was a unpleasant confrontation with the colonial past. There was a narrative to explain why Brazilians were considered to be "lazy": to the slaves, back breaking work at the sugar plantations represented the oppression of their colonial masters. 

There was a common theme to the visual art on exhibition: the colonial past and the hardship endured.
Modesto Broco's Manioc Mill
Sidnei Amaral's Discomfort
On leaving the Institute, I realized that Salvodore Dali would be coming to this place at a time when I would have left Brazil.... Timing is everything.

São Paulo Series - Street Art

Street art is a phenomenon at São Paulo and it adds colour to daily life. Everywhere in the city where there is a gap in the wall, it is likely that some artists will have claimed the space and drew on it. 

I have always wanted to see street art in places where there are a concentration of different styles and subject matter. Alas, due to concern for personal safety I only dared to go to places where there are likely to be other visitors. So I headed for Beco do Batman (or Batman Alley). And I was not disappointed.

There are so many interesting pieces; no amount of blogs will do them justice. Here, I have picked the ones that appeal to me personally. No narrative is necessary.


Beco do Batman
Utterly charming - a house with murals