Rubem Valentim: Afro-Atlantic Constructions
Edited by:
Adriano Pedrosa; Fernando Oliva
Texts by:
Abigail Lapin Dardashti; Adriano Pedrosa; Artur Santoro; Bené Fonteles; Clarival do Prado Valladares; Fernando Oliva; Frederico Morais; Giulio Carlo Argan; Hélio Menezes; José Guilherme Merquior; Lilia Moritz Schwarcz; Lisette Lagnado; Mário Pedrosa; Marcelo Mendes Chaves; Marta Mestre; Renata Bittencourt; Roberto Conduru; Roberto Pontual
Brochura, 20,5x27,5cm, 288p, inglês, MASP, 2018
R$139
ISBN 978-85-310-0054-6
<em>Afro-Atlantic Constructions</em> reproduces 99 artworks by the painter, sculptor and engraver Rubem Valentim (Salvador, Brazil, 1922 – São Paulo, Brazil, 1991), a key figure in 20th century Brazilian art and afro-atlantic histories. From the 1950s onward, Valentim incorporated the language of geometric abstraction to create complex compositions that redesigned and reconfigured afro-atlantic symbols, emblems and references. In this process, Valentim transformed the european artistic languages that dominated most of the art production in Brazil and worldwide during the 1950-60s (geometric abstraction, constructivism and concretism), blending them with african references, mostly through drawings and diagrams representing the deities of afro-brazilian religions – known as <em>orishas</em> – such as Shango’s double-edged axe, Oshoosi’s arrow and Osanyin’s rods.