Newton Mesquita exhibits at the FAAP Brazilian Art Museum

Curated by Fábio Magalhães, the Desígnio exhibition presents an overview of his career with 82 paintings

Newton Mesquita opens, on February 7th, Wednesday, from 10 am, the exhibition “Desígnio”, at the FAAP Brazilian Art Museum. Curated by Fábio Magalhães, the exhibition features 82 works that provide a broad overview of the artist's pictorial career. In the opening hall of the exhibition, there will be an exhibition space reproducing the artist's studio, where the public can watch the execution of a new work, on dates to be defined.

With more than 50 years of career, Newton has a unique trajectory in Brazilian visual arts. Award-winning, he has exhibited in Latin America, the United States, Europe and Japan. The current exhibition is his 56th solo exhibition, with a trajectory that began to gain recognition between the 1960s and 1970s. “His art has a figurative character of a photographic matrix and incorporates elements of abstraction”, says curator Fábio Magalhães. “He is an urban artist, who portrays banal city scenes, creating a realism of everyday life.” And he states: “he is one of the few artists who work very well with twilight, dusk, the light that filters through the shadows. He is an artist of light.”

According to Fernanda Celidonio, administrative director of MAB FAAP: “Newton paints with passion, intuition and relaxation. I don’t feel tension or anguish in front of the screens, but the desire to enter them and be part of that moment stolen from time.” And he concludes: “in truth, what guides Newton is light. The scenes only exist so he can express the light he sees. Light and its shadows, equally important in his work.”
Photography and the city of São Paulo as influences on his work

Among the most recent works presented in the exhibition are some paintings made in 2023, such as It's morning, Ibirapuera, Noite no Ibirapuera, Onírico, Praça da Sé, Pipoqueiro no Parquinho and Santa Ifigênia. The city of São Paulo is one of his greatest inspirations. One of his biggest influences comes from his father, an amateur photographer who had a laboratory at home. “My memories are confused with my father’s photos”, says the artist.
Newton Mesquita
Domingo, AST, 60x80cm, 2018

It is through photographic references and his travels around the city, especially the center, that his work develops. “When I was 14, I was an office boy in the center of São Paulo and I walked a lot around São Bento, Rua Direita, Santa Ifigênia, Barão de Itapetininga, 15 de Novembro, where the banks were.” At the same time, in 1965, he received the first order that resulted in a series of paintings for a restaurant called La Boheme, in Brás, the old neighborhood where a large part of the Italian colony arrived, and where the artist's family lived. He also studied piano and had professional music groups such as a bossa nova trio. He studied architecture at Braz Cubas University, in Mogi das Cruzes, and frequented the studio of Aldemir Martins, one of his Brazilian references. He was also very close to other artists such as Carlos Scliar, Tikashi Fukushima, Manabu Mabe and Darcy Penteado.

“Newton Mesquita is a chronicler of urban life, of his daily life in large open spaces and, also of intimacy, of protected spaces. His gaze (looking from the outside) is capable of penetrating the essence of the environments and their characters like an anonymous voyeur – the one who sees! That is, the one who participates through what he sees. However, his painting expresses a look that scrutinizes, that seeks to know and understand the meaning of things and people. The scenes of squares, streets and facades and their characters, almost always solitary, suggest apparent simplicity, however, the artist incorporates plastic elements that lead us to intense and complex approaches”, concludes Fábio Magalhães.
About Newton Mesquita

Born in São Paulo in 1949, the artist graduated in architecture in 1977 and has participated in collective exhibitions and official exhibitions since 1972. His works are in important collections in Brazil and abroad and in Museums: MASP Museu de Arte de São Paulo-SP; MAB Museum of Brazilian Art – São Paulo; MAC Museum of Contemporary Art of Londrina – PR; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo; MAM Museum of Modern Art – São Paulo; Afro Museum – São Paulo; Salvador Allende Museum – Santiago – Chile; Galeria Degli Ufizze- Florence – Italy. He held 56 solo exhibitions of painting, drawing, watercolor, printmaking, photography, object and sculpture.
About MAB FAAP

Since opening its doors for the first time on August 10, 1961, with the exhibition “Barroque in Brazil”, the Museu de Arte Brasileira da Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP) has been committed to encouraging and promoting Brazilian art. In addition to its own collection, which includes more than 3,000 works of art from the end of the 19th century, over the last few years it has housed landmark exhibitions in the history of the country's culture, such as the exhibition “Toyota – The Rhythm of Space ” award-winning by APCA in 2018. In 2016, the Moda-MAB Collection was created, which brings together clothes, dolls and accessories from contemporary Brazilian designers, strengthening the link between the museum and fashion, which since 1989 has been present through fashion shows and exhibitions linked to the theme. It is worth noting that in addition to researching and organizing exhibitions on themes relevant to Brazilian visual arts, MAB incorporated the presentation of international art exhibitions with themes of general interest that bring significant experiences to the public and expand the understanding of artistic and cultural activities.
Service

Opening of the exhibition Desígnio, by Newton Mesquita
February 6th, Tuesday, 7pm (for guests)
Curator: Fábio Magalhães
Exhibition period: February 7th to March 31st
Location: MAB FAAP.
Address: Rua Alagoas, 903 – Higienópolis. Sao Paulo-SP
Opening hours: every day, except Tuesdays (closed, even on holidays). Open from 10am to 6pm, last entry at 5:30pm
Free entrance