Rubens Gerchman (January 10, 1942 in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

– January 29, 2008) was a Brazilian painter and sculptor. He was heavily influenced by

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

and neoconcrete art. Many of Gerchman's works are paintings based on populist themes and his political beliefs, which followed those of neoconcrete artists. His sculptures with letters, stem from

concrete poetry Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has now developed a distinct mea ...

Career

Gerchman studied at the Rio de Janeiro School of Fine Arts. In the 1960s, his work focused on

mass culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

. He used faces clipped from news photos, but unlike

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, who used infamous celebrity, he used images of anonymous individuals. These faces would be reproduced as multiple painted images in a comic-strip style. In the late 1960s, Gerchman devoted his interest to urban isolation and alienation. He produced boxes and containers destined to be opened by spectators, and made a series of mixed media collages on wood, broadly titled ''Caixa de morar'' (''Box to Live In''), which reflects this theme. One work in this series, ''O rei do mau gosto'' (''The King of Bad Taste''), was a satire on the bourgeoisie and industrial tycoons set in a monstrous tropical paradise. From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, Gerchman incorporated letters and words in his paintings, photographs, and sculptures. In 1967, he completed sculptural works which included ''Terra'' (Earth), ''Lute'' ("Struggle") and ''Sós'' ("Alone"). ''Terra'' integrated Gerchman's box with hollowed out letters, while ''Sós'' played on his ''Boxes to Live In'' series with its reference to isolation and alienation. Lastly, ''Lute'' expresses political importance. During his stay in New York City from 1968 to 1973, Gerchman adapted to his new audience by producing works with English words. His new works still reflected Gerchman's populist nature, and are rooted in concrete poetry. Some of his work with letters also addresses issues of

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

's relative geographic location in the Southern Hemisphere.

Influences on Art

Gerchman's work in the 1960s influenced the spread of kitsch in Brazilian paintings. His comic-strip inspired a form of pop art in Brazil that was based on people and events. Works * 1. ''Caixa de Morar'' (''Box to Live In'') (1966-1968) * 2. ''O rei do mau gosto'' (''The King of Bad Taste'') (1966) * 3. ''Terra'' (''Earth'') (1967) * 4. ''Lute'' (''Struggle'') (1967) * 5. ''Sos'' (''Alone'') (1967) * 6. ''Skyeyeyellow'' (1970) * 7. ''Spelling Book Project: House'' (1972) * 8. ''Sinuous Snake'' (1969) Museum Exhibitations/Shows * 1. Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo * 2. Museum of Modern Art and the Museu da Republica in Rio de Janeiro * 3. Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas * 4. Bronx Museum and El Museo del Barrio in New York * 5. São Paulo Biennials (1966, 1982, 1998) * 6. "Viva Brasil" show at Galerie 1900–2000 in Paris (1999) * 7. "Re-aligning Vision: Alternative Currents in South American Drawing" at the Miami Art Museum (1999) * 8. "L'Esthètique du Football" at Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont in Paris (1998)

References

1942 births 2008 deaths Brazilian Jews Brazilian contemporary artists Deaths from lung cancer Artists from Rio de Janeiro (city) 20th-century Brazilian sculptors 20th-century Brazilian painters 20th-century Brazilian male artists {{Brazil-painter-stub