In Brazil during the mid '60s, radical artists rallied around the poet Oswald de Andrade and his idea of "antropofagia" (cultural cannibalism) and came up with the idea of divorcing themselves from puritanical, Eurocentric art forms and the artistic elite. Art, fashion, theater, architecture, music and film converged in a revolutionary movement known as Tropicália, the title of this first comprehensive survey of Brazil's cultural transformation. The show at the Bronx Museum of the Arts brings together 250 pieces, including work by Hélio Oiticica, whose installations involve not just visuals, but smells, sounds and textures. Lygia Pape, for her part, proffers flavored liquids, while Lygia Clark provides masks, goggles and gloves to help visitors transcend the typical art experience. Also on view are contributions from a younger generation influenced by the movement, including assume vivid astro focus, Ernesto Neto, and Karin Schneider. (source)
The Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse, Bronx, (718) 681-6181. Oct. 7–Jan. 28.
