Concrete Parallels/Concretos Paralelos – Brazilian Concrete and Neo Concrete Art British Constructive and System Art

Concrete Parallels/Concretos Paralelos, Centro Brasileiro Britânico, installation view, Norman Dilworth and Helio Oiticica in the centre

For the FIRST TIME in HISTORY, a major exhibition of BRITISH CONSTRUCTIVISTS has opened in São Paulo. Works by an impressive group of artists, that changed the course of British Art, are now being shown in a groundbreaking parallel with the most famous Brazilian Concrete artists of their time, FROM THE 1950s TO THE 1970s, in a large scale installation comprising more than eighty landmark works.

Concrete Parallels/Concretos Paralelos, Centro Brasileiro Britânico, installation view with in the centre: Norman Dilworth, Luis Sacilotto, Jeffrey Steele, and (the table) Ferreira Gullar, and Peter Lowe on the right

Concrete Parallels/Concretos Paralelos, Centro Brasileiro Britânico, installation view, Sacilotto, Anthony Hill, Maluf, and Brian Wall

This exhibition acts as a revelation and demonstrates the common ground that these two nations shared, without any significant knowledge of each other’s ideas or practice. Indeed the artists were guided by similar philosophy and influences, and lead by the desire to transform their practice into a new momentum to serve the needs of their time.

Both sides represent a new complex and diversified approach to CONCRETE ART.

Alexandre Wollner, Composição Tinta Industrial sobre Madeira, 1950

Kenneth Martin, Chance and Order 13 Green and Red, 1973, 91.5 x 91.5 cm

There are striking similarities in the formal concerns of the art produced in both countries, and in the issues and debates prompted by it. ‘On the simple level of appearances, there is a remarkable coincidence: the articulation of basic geometric forms through rotation, subdivision and projection is regularly encountered in both bodies of work, as is a formal exploration of space, interval and movement. And, beyond appearances, there is a common interest in the processes and materials of construction, in ideas of environment, in the relation of theory and practice, and in developing models for the audience engagement and participation. What emerges from setting these works together is a strong sense of a shared language and purpose, albeit one developed independently and in markedly different cultural and social circumstances.’ in Sam Gathercole, from ‘The Concrete and the Human’, essay for Concrete Parallels, copyright @ Sam Gathercole

Concrete Parallels/Concretos Paralelos, Centro Brasileiro Britânico, installation view, Judith Lauand, franz Weissman, Anthony Hill and Lygia Clark

press release

Centro Brasileiro Britânico, São Paulo, Brazil
September 4th – December 2nd 2012

The exhibition Concrete Parallels / Concretos Paralelos is the result of a sustained programme at the Laurent Delaye Gallery over the last six years promoting and representing the British artists known as Constructivists and Systems Artists. The exhibition, curated by Maria Alice Milliet and Ferreira Gullar, is the first on any scale to consider the parallel practices of ‘concrete’ and ‘constructive’ art in Britain and Brazil from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Stephen Gilbert, Structure 16 C, c1961, aluminium on plexiglass base, 61 x 91.4 x 50.8 cm

Bill Culbert, Outline, 1970, perspex light bulb electric cable, 30 x 30 x 30 cm (each)

Victor Pasmore, Projective Relief Construction in White and Black, 1965 transparent painted wood and plastic, 122 x 122 x 53.5 cm

Concrete Parallels / Concretos Paralelos will feature British artists Robert ADAMS, Bill CULBERT, Norman DILWORTH, Stephen GILBERT, Anthony HILL, Peter LOWE, Kenneth MARTIN, Mary MARTIN, Victor PASMORE, Jean SPENCER, Jeffrey STEELE, Brian WALL and Gillian WISE; Brazilian artists Geraldo DE BARROS, Hércules BARSOTTI, Sérgio CAMARGO, Willys DE CASTRO, Lothar CHAROUX, Lygia CLARK, Waldemar CORDEIRO, Hermelindo FIAMINGHI, Ferreira GULLAR, Antonio MALUF, Almir MAVIGNIER, Maurício NOGUEIRA LIMA, Hélio OITICICA, Lygia PAPE, Luiz SACILOTTO, Ivan SERPA, Alfredo VOLPI, Franz WEISSMANN and Alexandre WOLLNER.

Concrete Parallels/Concretos Paralelos, Centro Brasileiro Britânico, installation view, Dilworth, de Barros, Camargo, Mavignier

For more information, please look at our website www.laurentdelaye.com