Rubens Gerchman
Encyclopedia
Rubens Gerchman was a Brazilian
painter and sculptor. He was heavily influenced by concrete
and neoconcrete art.
Many of Gerchman’s works are paintings based on populist themes and his political beliefs, which followed those of neoconcrete artists. His sculptures with letters, stem from concrete poetry
.
. He used faces clipped from news photos, but unlike Andy Warhol
, who used infamous celebrity, he used images of anonymous individuals. These faces would be reproduced as multiple painted images in a comic-strip style.
In the late 1960s, Gerchman devoted his interest to urban isolation and alienation. He produced boxes and containers destined to be opened by spectators, and made a series of mixed media collages on wood, broadly titled Caixa de morar (Box to Live In), which reflects this theme. One work in this series, O rei do mau gosto (The King of Bad Taste), was a satire on the bourgeoisie and industrial tycoons set in a monstrous tropical paradise.
From the mid 1960s to the early 1970s, Gerchman incorporated letters and words in his paintings, photographs, and sculptures. In 1967, he completed sculptural works which included Terra (Earth), Lute ("Struggle") and Sós ("Alone"). Terra integrated Gerchman’s box with hollowed out letters, while Sós played on his Boxes to Live In series with its reference to isolation and alienation. Lastly, Lute expresses political importance.
During his stay in New York City from 1968-1973, Gerchman adapted to his new audience by producing works with English words. His new works still reflected Gerchman's populist nature, and are rooted in concrete poetry. Some of his work with letters also addresses issues of Latin America
's relative geographic location in the Southern Hemisphere
.
Works
Museum Exhibitations/Shows
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
painter and sculptor. He was heavily influenced by concrete
Concrete art
Concrete art and design or concretism is an abstractionist movement that evolved in the 1930s out of the work of De Stijl, the futurists and Kandinsky around the Swiss painter Max Bill. The term "concrete art" was first introduced by Theo van Doesburg in his "Manifesto of Concrete Art"...
and neoconcrete art.
Many of Gerchman’s works are paintings based on populist themes and his political beliefs, which followed those of neoconcrete artists. His sculptures with letters, stem from concrete poetry
Concrete poetry
Concrete poetry or shape poetry is poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on....
.
Career
Gerchman studied at the Rio de Janeiro School of Fine Arts. In the 1960s, his work focused on mass culturePopular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. He used faces clipped from news photos, but unlike Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, who used infamous celebrity, he used images of anonymous individuals. These faces would be reproduced as multiple painted images in a comic-strip style.
In the late 1960s, Gerchman devoted his interest to urban isolation and alienation. He produced boxes and containers destined to be opened by spectators, and made a series of mixed media collages on wood, broadly titled Caixa de morar (Box to Live In), which reflects this theme. One work in this series, O rei do mau gosto (The King of Bad Taste), was a satire on the bourgeoisie and industrial tycoons set in a monstrous tropical paradise.
From the mid 1960s to the early 1970s, Gerchman incorporated letters and words in his paintings, photographs, and sculptures. In 1967, he completed sculptural works which included Terra (Earth), Lute ("Struggle") and Sós ("Alone"). Terra integrated Gerchman’s box with hollowed out letters, while Sós played on his Boxes to Live In series with its reference to isolation and alienation. Lastly, Lute expresses political importance.
During his stay in New York City from 1968-1973, Gerchman adapted to his new audience by producing works with English words. His new works still reflected Gerchman's populist nature, and are rooted in concrete poetry. Some of his work with letters also addresses issues of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
's relative geographic location in the Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
.
Influences on Art
Gerchman's work in the 1960s influenced the spread of kitsch in Brazilian paintings. His comic-strip inspired a form of pop art in Brazil that was based on people and events.Works
- 1. Caixa de Morar (Box to Live In) (1966-1968)
- 2. O rei do mau gosto (The King of Bad Taste) (1966)
- 3. Terra (Earth) (1967)
- 4. Lute (Struggle) (1967)
- 5. Sos (Alone) (1967)
- 6. Skyeyeyellow (1970)
- 7. Spelling Book Project: House (1972)
- 8. Sinuous Snake (1969)
Museum Exhibitations/Shows
- 1. Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo
- 2. Museum of Modern Art and the Museu da Republica in Rio de Janeiro
- 3. Austin Museum in Austin, Texas
- 4. Bronx Museum and El Museo del Barrio in New York
- 5. São Paulo Biennials (1966, 1982, 1998)
- 6. "Viva Brasil" show at Galerie 1900-2000 in Paris (1999)
- 7. "Re-aligning Vision: Alternative Currents in South American Drawing" at the Miami Art Museum (1999)
- 8. "L'Esthètique du Football" at Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont in Paris (1998)