Curated by Felipe Scovino, the exhibition Franz Weissmann: o Vazio como Forma [Franz Weissmann: Emptiness as Form] which runs from November 27, 2019, to February 9, 2020, is entering the roster of solo shows organized by Itaú Cultural featuring works by key figures in the visual arts in Brazil (such as Lygia Clark, Waldemar Cordeiro, Sergio Camargo and Véio). The show was conceived and produced by Itaú Cultural, in partnership with Instituto Franz Weissmann.
The exhibition brings the visitor on a walk through sizes, shapes and colors, presenting an extensive survey of Weissmann’s oeuvre. Besides sculptures, there are more than 50 never-before-shown drawings, artworks in aluminum sheets from the Amassados [Dented] series, and a work in virtual reality simulated in the public space.
Franz Weissmann: o Vazio como Forma
Wednesday November 27, 2019, through February 9, 2020
Tuesday through Friday |9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (visitors may remain until 8:30 p.m.)
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
floors 1, -1 and -2 | free admission
Age rating: appropriate for all ages
Further information at: itaucultural.org.br.
Itaú Cultural
Avenida Paulista, 149, São Paulo, SP
Franz Weissmann (1973) Foto: Angel Carretero
Franz Weissmann (Knittelfed, Austria, 1911 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2005) was an artist who envisioned the macro in the micro: his production ranged from small maquettes to large-scale sculptures, one of the hallmarks of his work. A key artist in the neoconcrete movement, he was interested in seeing his creations shown on sidewalks and in public squares, precisely to ensure widespread access to them.
“My idea is to make larger-scale sculptures for public squares, mainly. I am very much interested in having my sculptures in public squares, where the public passes by and participates. One day a member of the public passes by, thinking that it’s no good, another day he or she passes by and thinks it’s better. And little by little understands the work.” This statement is by Weissmann himself, in the documentary Franz Weismann – The Music of Silence, directed by Moacir de Oliveira.
The spread of works by this artist through the public space sprang from his idea that the work of art should have a more intimate and direct contact with the spectator. “He was an essential artist – just like the concrete and neoconcrete artists active at the same time as him – to think about the street as a place for artworks to occupy. These artworks founded a space in the city, by transforming the places where they were based into zones of feeling, and by adding other possibilities of construction into a narrative of the city and nation. That they were able to do this is owing to how they were not merely more busts or monuments honoring characters or heroes, defining an ‘official’ history that was very restricted and in certain cases defeating the idea of a democratic country. They were artworks which on the one hand bore a developmentalist, urban industrial thinking, very much identified with the 1950s, and, on the other, created effective bonds between pedestrians, artwork and city,” states Felipe Scovino, curator of this exhibition Franz Weissmann: o Vazio como Forma [Franz Weissmann: Emptiness As Form].
The aim of this site is to map the public artworks by Weissmann in Rio de Janeiro and in São Paulo, installed on streets and in public squares and parks.
Year: 1975
Material: chromed steel
Size: 220 cm x 310 cm
Location: MAM/SP – Parque Ibirapuera (Avenida Pedro Álvares Cabral – Vila Mariana)
Year: 1985
Material: chromed steel
Size: 240 cm x 230 cm
Location: MAM/SP – Parque Ibirapuera (Avenida Pedro Álvares Cabral – Vila Mariana)
Year: 1978
Material: corten steel
Size: 360 cm x 150 cm x 150 cm
Location: Faap (Rua Alagoas, 903 – Higienópolis)
> Google Street View unavailable
Year: 1978
Material: aço cromado
Size: 487 cm x 530 cm x 420 cm
Location: Faap (Rua Alagoas, 903 – Higienópolis)
> Google Street View unavailable
Year: 1991
Material: iron, steel and painted reinforced concrete
Size: 1,5 m x 995 cm
Location: Banco Itaú (Avenida Engenheiro Armando de Arruda Pereira, 1000 – Parque Jabaquara)
Year: 1986
Material: chromed steel
Size: 375 cm x 509 cm
Location: Banco Itaú (Avenida Engenheiro Armando de Arruda Pereira, 1000 – Parque Jabaquara)
Year: 1978
Material: chromed steel
Size: 440 cm x 510 cm x 150 cm
Location: Praça da Sé – Centro
Year: 1978
Material: chromed steel
Size: 212 cm x 212 cm x 212 cm
Location: Edifício Pedro Biagi (Avenida Paulista, 460 – Bela Vista)
Year: 1985
Material: chromed steel
Size: 142 cm x 151 cm x 150 cm
Location: Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (Praça da Luz, 2 – Luz)
Year: 1989
Material: chromed steel
Size: 700 cm x 650 cm x 650 cm
Location: Memorial da América Latina (Avenida Auro Soares de Moura Andrade, 664 – Barra Funda)
> Google Street View unavailable
Year: 1978-2011
Material: painted steel
Size: 292 cm x 280 cm x 335 cm
Location: Parque Prefeito Mario Covas (Avenida Paulista, 1853 – Bela Vista)
> Google Street View unavailable
Year: 1977
Material: steel
Size: 560 cm x 180 cm x 180 cm
Location: Condomínio Novo Leblon (Avenida das Américas, 7607 – Barra da Tijuca)
> Google Street View unavailable
Year: 1977
Material: painted steel
Size: 400 cm x 120 cm x 120 cm
Location: Instituto de Resseguros do Brasil/Rio de Janeiro (Avenida Marechal Câmara, 171 – Castelo)
Year: 1978
Material: painted steel
Size: 300 cm x 300 cm x 300 cm
Location: Parque da Catacumba (Avenida Epitácio Pessoa, 3000 – Lagoa)
> Google Street View unavailable
Year: 1978
Material: painted steel
Size: 300 cm x 300 cm x 300 cm
Location: Avenida Infante Dom Henrique, 85 – Parque do Flamengo
> Google Street View unavailable
Year: 1980
Material: painted steel
Size: 220 cm x 220 cm x 220 cm
Location: Edifício Pasteur (Avenida Pasteur, 146 – Botafogo)
> Google Street View unavailable
Year: 1984
Material: painted steel
Size: 400 cm x 400 cm x 200 cm
Location: Conjunto Universitário Cândido Mendes (Rua do Carmo s/no – Tijuca)
> Google Street View unavailable
Year: 1985
Material: painted steel
Size: 450 cm x 400 cm x 200 cm
Location: Conjunto Universitário Cândido Mendes (Rua do Carmo s/no – Tijuca)
Year: 1986
Material: painted steel
Size: 200 cm x 160 cm x 220 cm
Location: em frente à Casa de Cultura Laura Alvim (Avenida Vieira Souto, 176 – Ipanema
Year: 1996
Material: painted steel
Size: 590 cm x 430 cm x 500 cm
Location: Avenida República do Paraguai – Centro
> Google Street View unavailable
Year: 1996
Material: painted steel
Size: 320 cm x 280 cm x 250 cm
Location: em frente ao Real Gabinete Português de Leitura (Rua Luís de Camões, 30 – Centro)
Year: 2016
Material: painted steel
Size: 1 m x 200 cm x 200 cm
Location: Praça Franz Weissmann – Parque Madureira, Honório Gurgel (Rua Américo Rocha, 1602 – Marechal Hermes)
> Google Street View unavailable
