Nelson Leirner

5/20-8/10/2020

Nelson Leirner (1932-2020), an idol of the Brazilian art, he taught at the Armando Álvares Penteado Foundation, wining of the best proposal of the year from the São Paulo Art Critics Association. In 1967, he was awarded the 20th Tokyo Biennale. His works are collected in the Rio de Janeiro Museum of Modern Art.

Nelson Leirner born in 1932 at São Paulo. He is the son of sculptor Felícia Leirner and businesswoman Felícia Leirner. From 1947 to 1952, he lived and studied in the United States, where he learned textile engineering at the Lowell Technological Institute, in Massachusetts. He returned to Brazil afterward, to study painting and have his first solo exhibition in 1961.

He is known for his critiques of art production and consumption. He submitted his work named Porco Empalhado, which is a stuffed pig, to the 4th Salon of Modern Art of Brasília, the work was accepted as art. He found Grupo Rex in 1966 together with Wesley Duke Lee and Geraldo de Barros. They united by sharing the interest in Pop art and offered artist-run studio, exhibition spaces as an alternative to galleries.

Learner’s art shows the connection between himself and his life track. He questions on life and human-being and presents in various forms of art in an experimental way. He wants to bring Pop art to the public, so he draws cartoons in his paintings or adds some accessories to Mona Lisa which infused them with wry political satire.

（Exhibition Ended）

Curator: YiCOLLECTA