Português
Cybèle Varela’s early work was strongly influenced by the turbulent historical and artistic context of the 1960s. Born in Petrópolis, in the hills of Rio de Janeiro, Cybèle began her painting studies at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro [MAM-RJ] between 1962 and 1966, where she came into contact with the young scene in Rio and the groups of artists who were engaged in new experiments with figuration. The works she developed between 1960 and 1970, during the turmoil of the international feminist movement, the social changes that culminated in May 1968, the Brazilian military dictatorship and the consolidation of the consumer society, present a critical and ironic view that comments on the transformations of the time. Her work responds to the questions raised by the New Figuration and New Objectivity groups: the artist incorporates elements of urban culture, mass-media symbols, and the language of advertising, and experiments with unusual materialities. Commenting on Cybèle Varela’s engagement with this period in the history of Brazilian art, Paulo Miyada points out:
“In Brazil, the cycle of Opinion (and New Figuration) took place from 1964 to the end of 1968, with the aforementioned promulgation of AI-5. Cybèle was then fully engaged in experimenting with the forms and processes that circulated around her, both in the visual arts and beyond. In other texts I have written that this generation was shaped more by ethical than aesthetic principles, but Varela’s case makes this distinction difficult. I believe that what is known today about her young production shows that it was the fumbling of the cultural scene in an exceptional time that led her to deal with the contradictions of that time. Growing up in a home where politics wasn’t a regular topic, without having such frequent contact with cariocas, and because she was always coming and going from Petrópolis, she was in contact with attempts at contestation that already reached her as an aesthetic expression.”
The 1960s saw the consecration of her work, and after participating in several important group exhibitions in Brazil, she presented her work at the 9th São Paulo Biennial (1967). In 1968, at the beginning of the harshest period of the military dictatorship that had been established in 1964, Cybèle Varela not only destroyed one of her works – “O Presente”, which was part of the Bienal – but also sought a scholarship to study abroad, where she could go into exile. She traveled to study at the École du Louvre in Paris on a scholarship from the French government in 1968 and 1969, and again in 1971 and 1972. He then lived at the Cité Internationale des Arts between 1973 and 1974. In 1975, he participated in the exhibition 30 Créateurs d’Aujourd’hui, which toured France and brought together the country’s best artists of the year, and then studied at the École Pratique des Hautes Études between 1976 and 1978, where he wrote a “Mémoire” on Body Art. In France, his work turned to landscapes and the study of sunlight. In the 1980s, he turned to the theme of nature.
Lucifer o mais belo
1965
Gouache on paper 32 x 23 cm
Lucifer encontra o seu lar
1965
Gouache on paper
32 x 23 cm
Sem Título
1965
Oil on wood22 x 17 cm
Missão cumprida
1966
Oil on wood
79 x 40 cm
Que horas são?
1966
Oil on wood
70 x 50,5 cm
Antonio das Mortes
1965–1966
Oil on wood
81 x 65 cm
Corisco
1966
Oil on wood
97 x 130 cm
E antes? E agora? E depois?
1967
Industrial paint on wood
35 x 13 cm
Telefone Real
1967
Oil on wood, mirros, paper and fiber
17 x 27 x 20 cm
O Presente
De tudo aquilo que pode ser
1967
Industrial paint on wood
80 x 100 cm
Pedestres
1967–2021
Industrial paint
on wood
120 x 80 cm
Cenas de rua
1968
ndustrial paint on wood
150 x 150 cm
O presente
1967-2018
Industrial paint on wood, metal and synthetic sponge
65 x 130 x 4,5 cm
Miss Brazil e o cisne
1968
Industrial paint on wood 80 x 100 cm
Souvenir de Rio
1968-2016
Acrylic and industrial paint on canvas
100 x 50 cm
Ipanema
1968
Industrial paint on wood
100 x 180 cm
Os jogadores
1968
Industrial paint on wood
100 x 400 cm
Cinco moças passeando
1968
Industrial paint on wood
90 x 110 cm
O encontro
1970
Industrial paint on wood
150 x 260 cm
O Papagaio
1970
Industrial paint on wood
150 x 260 cm
O bolo
1970
Industrial paint on wood
150 x 260 cm
A Festa
1970
Industrial paint on wood
100 x 400 cm
Um passeio feliz 2
1970-2023
Wood and UV print on PS
62 x 62 x 4 cm
Um Passeio feliz
1970
Industrial paint on wood 92,3 x 91,6 cm
Moça correndo
1970
Industrial paint on wood 89,5 x 100 cm
Moça correndo na praia
1968–1969
Industrial paint on wood
47 x 75 cm
Laço de Cisne
1972
Plexiglas laminated on wood, photographic print on paper
30 x 50 x 5 cm
Estrelas
1972
Plexiglas laminated on wood, photographic print on paper
30 x 50 x 5 cm
O que desce e vai embora
1972
Plexiglas laminated on wood 25 x 50 x 20 cm
Refletos
1972
Plexiglas laminated on wood 30 x 50 x 5 cm
Maison du Brésil
1973
Industrial paint on wood 61 x 92 cm
O café da manhã
1973
Industrial paint on wood
91,4 x 120,5 cm
Image
1974
Industrial paint on wood102 x 69 cm
Image
1974
Industrial paint on wood 140 x 125 cm
Image
1974
Industrial paint on wood
61,5 x 75,5 cm
Image
1974
Industrial paint on wood
137 x 125,5 cm
Image 1, 2, 3
1975
Acrylic on canvas
73 x 60 cm
Image
1975
Acrylic on canvas
146 x 102 cm
Image
1975
Acrylic on canvas
146 x 102 cm
Image
1975
Acrylic on canvas
84 x 100 cm