Superfície is pleased to present Mulheres na Nova Figuração: corpo e posicionamento. With around 40 works, the exhibition brings together 16 names that worked between the 1960s and 1970s. Curated by Camila Bechelany and Gustavo Nóbrega, the exhibition intends to bring to light the performance of women artists in the period of greatest activity of New Figuration, a of the most relevant artistic movements in Brazil.

In line with the principles of New Figuration — which consisted of changing the treatment of the figure by questioning geometric and informal abstraction — many artists experimented and created works of great aesthetic and political interest. Without focusing exclusively on issues of the female universe, they were authors of works that stemmed from the need to carry out a social and political critique during the period of the Brazilian civil-military dictatorship.

Despite the exhibition-manifesto Opinião 65, at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, being considered the founding event of the New Figuration, in this and subsequent exhibitions, women were almost absent from the list. In the text that accompanies the exhibition, Camila Bechelany talks about this lack of representation:

“The knowledge that exists about Latin American women artists, even among specialists, is still quite limited and the purpose of the exhibition is to expand this knowledge through research carried out in archives and collections.”

Nova Figuração manifests itself as one of the most fruitful artistic movements in the country both for its reach in the artistic community – countless artists expressed themselves within its aesthetic precepts – and for its scope of influences and dialogues with other movements outside the country. Mulheres na Nova Figuração: corpo e posicionamento features paintings, objects, prints and sculptures, some of which are virtually unheard of in São Paulo exhibition halls.

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The show opens on August 19, remaining on display until October 21, 2023, and can be visited from Tuesday to Friday, from 10 am to 7 pm, and Saturday, from 11 am to 5 pm.

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Untitled, from the series Tropicália, 1968
Serigraphy on paper
31,2 × 38,7 cm