Brazilian Contemporary Art

In Brazil, the style of Contemporary Art also began to be promoted during the 1950s, mainly through the avant-garde movement of Neoconcretism.

American Pop Art, when it appeared all over the world, also influenced the way art was made here in Brazil, mainly in the 1960s. At the beginning, artists expressed strong criticism of society and the Military Dictatorship, in addition to strongly referencing Tropicalism.

In the following decade, art moved away from moments of political protest, assuming a facet of reflection on thought, reason and technology. Technological art then emerged with the International Exhibition of Art by Electronic Means.

The late 1970s saw the incorporation of the aspirations of the Diretas Já movement into Brazilian art, resuming the character of social criticism and political opinion, especially in exhibitions such as “Tradição e Ruptura” (Tradition and Rupture) in 1984 and “A Trama do Gosto” (The Plot of Taste) in 1987, presented by the São Paulo Biennial, as well as the exhibition “A Mão Afro-brasileira” (The Afro-Brazilian Hand) in 1988, organized by MAM-SP (Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo).

Despite its great reach, mainly due to the use of technology, Brazilian art still remains a privilege of the wealthiest segments of the population and continues to be exhibited in large urban centers, excluding the interior of the country from the artistic process.