Superfície is pleased to present José Resende: corpo escultórico [José Resende: Sculptural Body], a solo exhibition by the artist. Building on the gallery’s recent representation of the artist, the exhibition features approximately 18 works, including a new installation created specifically for this exhibition.

José Resende is one of the central figures in Brazilian art. A graduate in architecture, he was one of the founders of the Rex Group in 1966, establishing a decisive field of experimentation that redefined modes of production, circulation, and reception of art in the country. Over the following decades, his work has unfolded across sculpture, installation, and interventions in urban space. In dialogue with Arte Povera and post-minimalism, his practice investigates the physical properties of materials—copper tubes, metal sheets, steel cables, glass—often organized into structures that explore balance, weight, and permanence.

The exhibition at Superfície brings together wall sculptures and spatial installations, bringing together historical and recent works. Throughout the exhibition, central themes in the artist’s practice are highlighted—such as the relationship between matter and force, tension and balance, form and instability. As Luiz Armando Bagolin—who authored the exhibition’s critical text—observes, in Resende’s sculptures “weight, compression, and support remain visibly active, so that the structure ceases to function as a formal resolution and instead manifests as a provisional state of physical relationships.” Stability, far from being a given, depends on a continuous negotiation among the elements that compose each work.

The solo exhibition also features an unpublished work, conceived specifically for the gallery, which raises questions tied to the transformations of the city of São Paulo, highlighting the tension in the relationship between material, space, and urban context.

With a strong international presence, José Resende has participated in major exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale [1988], Documenta 9 in Kassel [1992], and the Sydney Biennale [1998], in addition to having been part of the Paris Biennale [1980]. In 1984, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and resided in New York, during which time he created the work later awarded by the Hakone Open Air Museum in Tokyo. His works are part of collections such as the Museum of Modern Art [MoMA] in New York and the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo.

José Resende: corpo escultórico [José Resende: Sculptural Body] reaffirms Superfície’s commitment to tracking and presenting key trajectories in Brazilian art from the second half of the 20th century, marking an important moment for the gallery, in dialogue with the significance of Resende’s career.