For the opening of the Pietro Maria Bardi Building, MASP presents five exhibitions about its collection and history. On this floor, Geometries brings together 62 works conceived from elementary geometric figures, such as the circle and the rectangle. Although MASP’s collection is mostly made up of figurative paintings (landscapes, portraits, everyday scenes), abstract works (without figures) have been gradually incorporated into the collection—in this exhibition, 57 of them have been incorporated in the past ten years, with 21 of them added on the occasion of the organization of this show.
    Historically, artistic movements based on geometric principles developed in Europe in the early 20th century. In Brazil, just as in other Latin American countries, geometric abstraction emerged in the 1950s and became strongly consolidated with features of its own. This exhibition presents works from the collection by artists who emerged at that time, in dialogue with contemporaries who use different concepts to boost geometry anew. 
    In painting, at first, geometric shapes distributed on the surface of the canvas were rigorously calculated and filled in with little variation in terms of color. Over time, such radicalism lost ground to more poetic experiments, in which the careful preparation of paints allowed for complex chromatic research. Geometric patterns are also part of the repertoire of indigenous artists and can carry symbolic and spiritual meanings. For others, geometric patterns go beyond a decorative and abstract appearance to refer to social and political issues, as in the case of the photographs by Angolan artist Kiluanji Kia Henda. In addition to painting, there are also artists working with three-dimensional shapes, fabrics, and photographs in strikingly geometric compositions. 
    Geometries seeks not only to highlight the diversity of approaches and uses of geometric figures in art, but also to promote dialogues between works from different eras, territories, and materialities. Far from drawing a panorama of abstraction or geometric figuration, the exhibition points towards new possibilities for understanding and developing a collection historically marked by the presence of the human figure, something that has always reflected the vocation consolidated by Pietro Maria Bardi (1900-1999), the founding director of MASP. 
 
Geometries is curated by Adriano Pedrosa, artistic director, and Regina Teixeira de Barros, coordinating and collection curator, with the assistance of Matheus de Andrade, curatorial assistant, MASP.

The show is part of the set Five Essays on MASP, exhibitions that inaugurate the Pietro Maria Bardi Building and occupy five other floors: MASP’s Histories (6th floor), Renoir (5th floor), Arts from Africa (3rd floor), and Isaac Julien: Lina Bo Bardi – A Marvellous Entanglement (2nd floor). Geometries continues on the 10th floor.
 

ACCESSIBILITY

All temporary exhibitions at MASP are accessible, with free admission for people with disabilities and their companions. Visits are offered in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) or with descriptive texts and subtitles in large print and audio-visual productions in easy language – with narration, subtitles and interpretation in Libras, describing and commenting on the spaces and works. The content, available on the museum’s website and YouTube channel, can be used by people with disabilities, students, teachers, non-literate people and the public.

PRESENTED BY

Five essays on MASP – Geometries is made possible through the Federal Cultural Incentive Law and has sponsorship from Bradesco.

SERVICE INFO

Five essays on MASP – Geometries

Curated by: Adriano Pedrosa, Artistic Director, MASP, Regina Teixeira de Barros, Coordinating Curator, MASP, and Matheus de Andrade, Curatorial Assistant, MASP

4th and 10th Floor, Pietro Maria Bardi Building

On view: March 28–August 3, 2025

MASP — Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand

Avenida Paulista, 1510 – Bela Vista, São Paulo, SP 01310-200 

Telephone: +55 (11) 3149-5959

Hours: Free on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (admission until 7 p.m.); Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (admission until 5 p.m.); Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (free admission from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.); Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (admission until 5 p.m.); closed on Mondays. 

Online booking required via masp.org.br/ingressos

Tickets: R$ 75 (admission); R$ 37 (students with ID)
 

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PRESS CONTACT

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Content Communication

Roberta Montanari: +55 11 9 9967-3292

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