As indicated by the title Affective Affinities—inspired by the novel Elective Affinities (1809), by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and by the thesis On the affective nature of form in the work of art (1949), by Mário Pedrosa—the 33rd Bienal de São Paulo, curated by Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, aims to promote the individual and attentive interaction between the visitor and the artworks instead of a single thematic framework.
Against this backdrop, the curator Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro—appointed by the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo—has selected twelve individual projects to present at the 33rd Bienal, including commissioned artworks by eight artists: Alejandro Corujeira (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1961); Luiza Crosman (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1987); Nelson Felix (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1954); Tamar Guimarães (Viçosa, Brazil, 1967); Maria Laet (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1982); Vânia Mignone (Campinas, Brazil, 1967); Denise Milan (São Paulo, Brazil, 1954) and Bruno Moreschi (Maringá, Brazil, 1982). His selection also includes an iconic series produced by Siron Franco (Goiás Velho, Brazil, 1950) in response to a tragic radioactive accident in Brazil in 1987, and posthumous tributes to three key under-recognized artists of the 1990s: Feliciano Centurión (San Ignacio, Paraguay, 1962–Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1996), Aníbal López (Guatemala, Guatemala, 1964–2014), Lucia Nogueira (Goiânia, Brazil, 1950–London, England, 1998).
The 33rd Bienal will be completed by seven collective exhibitions conceived by the artist-curators previously announced: Mamma Andersson; Antonio Ballester Moreno; Sofia Borges; Waltercio Caldas; Alejandro Cesarco; Claudia Fontes and Wura-Natasha Ogunji. Details regarding their curatorial proposals will be provided shortly.
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The Foundation behind the 33rd Bienal de São Paulo
The proposal presented by Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro and selected by the Fundação Bienal for the 33rd edition of the exhibition resonates not only with the institution’s vocation but also in the challenge of staying contemporary in the 21st century. By questioning established models and rethinking the way large-scale art exhibitions are conducted, the project is aligned with Fundação Bienal’s daily work of constantly looking for the new without losing sight of its six decades of history.
