Glauco Rodrigues 1929-2004

Glauco Rodrigues 

(Rio Grande do Sul, 1929 – Rio de Janeiro, 2004)

Began his painting practice in 1945 as a self-taught artist. In 1948, he exhibited for the first time in the group show Os Novos de Bagé, at which time he achieved a moderate projection that allowed him to go to Rio de Janeiro, where he studied Painting and Engraving for three months at the National School of Fine Arts. In 1951, he returned to Rio Grande do Sul and created the Clube de Gravura de Porto Alegre [Engraving Club of Porto Alegre] along with Carlos Scliar (1920-2001), Glênio Bianchetti (1928-2014), Danúbio Gonçalves (1925-2019), and Vasco Prado (1914-1998).

In the late 1950s, he returned to Rio de Janeiro and worked as an illustrator. In 1961, he participated in the 2nd Paris Biennial, and the following year he traveled to Rome, where he worked in the print department of the Brazilian Embassy until 1965. In 1964, he participated in the 32nd Venice Biennial, followed by solo exhibitions in Munich, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt. In 1967, he received the Acquisition Prize at the 9th Bienal de São Paulo. The 1970s were marked by passages through São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, and Recife. In 1972, he participated in the group show Arte/Brasil/Hoje: 50 anos depois, at Galeria da Collectio in São Paulo.

Glauco Rodrigues' work is marked by a "critical tropicalism" that questions the Brazilian social and political context and composes a repertoire of images populated by characters from the historical past, urban archetypes, elements from Art History, culture, fauna and flora gathered and organized as collages and fragments that make up an allegory. His aesthetics can be defined by the "carnavalization" of our culture and history, and his paintings propose narratives "similar to the samba school themes", as revealed by the artist.

Among his recent exhibitions, we highlight Glauco Rodrigues: entre trânsitos, at Museu Victor Meirelles, Florianópolis (2022); Glauco Rodrigues: Acontece que somos canibais, at Bergamin & Gomide, São Paulo (2021), Redécouvrir Glauco Rodrigues, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Paris (2013); Brasilidade Pós-Modernismo, at CCBB (2021-2022), and AI-5 50 Years – Still Hasn't Ended Yet, at Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo (2018). His work is part of several public and private collections, such as São Paulo Museum of Modern Art – MAM-SP, Brasil; Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul – MARGS, Brasil; Museu Victor Meirelles, Brasil; University of Essex, United Kingdom; Museo de Bellas Artes de Coruña, Spain.