Max Perlingeiro
Max Perlingeiro was considered the active personality in the artistic environment by ABCA in 2019

In the Brazilian art system there have always been escape areas, since the first edition of the Bienal de São Paulo in 1951, when the Brazilian cultural desert was surprised by an international avalanche of museum directors, critics, galleries, artists and unimaginable works. In the following decades, the apprenticeship stimulated the emergence of young entrepreneurs willing to face the incipient Brazilian art system, among them Max Perlingeiro. The terrain was marked by its own history, European influence, limited criticism and very few professional galleries. Over time, the scenario expanded, and today Perlingeiro works as a businessman, editor, curator, organizer of art courses and manager of collections. His story proves that dealing with art is also a process of territorialization. In January 1979, he created the Pinakotheke Cultural in Rio de Janeiro, more than two decades later, in 2002, he opened a branch in São Paulo. Before that, in 1987, he opened the doors of Multiarte, in Fortaleza, a kind of bridge between Pinakotheke and the Northeast.

By performing multiple functions with the objective of training, research, questioning, Perlingeiro generates applied knowledge in various platforms for the dissemination of Brazilian art. The result of this performance earned him the Ciccilo Matarazzo award this year, from the Brazilian Association of Art Critics (ABCA). Hierarchically, there seems to be no task that supplants another in the daily life of the entrepreneur, demarcated by the coexistence of all the activities with which he is involved. Research is, for him, a fundamental piece, which makes him critical of the superficiality of some curatorial works. Deepening knowledge is turning the field of art into a complex and dynamic space, but this is not always the case. “When an exhibition comes up, there are curators who apply the process of copy / paste, in previously edited works. They are not concerned with a serious, deep and content text”. Adopting the same procedure for his work as an art book editor, he is emphatic: “I don't make sticker albums, books have to have content”. In his work in the book market, he tries to change this scenario with a set of information strata. “The query in our database has 1516 items and the search is intense”. In Fortaleza, Multiarte has 120 students divided into 10, 12 per class. “With this work, we create content for publication and train people. Today the institution receives about 200 visitors a week”.

Bruno Giorgi, Portrait of Leontina Giorgi
Bruno Giorgi, Portrait of Leontina Giorgi, 1970s – Photo Jaime Acioli

The historiography of Brazilian art is largely made up of short texts published in newspapers and magazines, as well as catalogs, which do not always feature extensive essays. The hole still persists. Perlingeiro specializes in publishing books exclusively focused on the history of Brazilian art, from the 19th and 20th centuries, with extensive research. Among the publications, it is worth mentioning: Antônio Bandeira 1922-1967; Airton Queiroz Collection Fortaleza/Ceará; Frans Post; Edson Queiroz Collection – catalogue, among others. Editorial recognition came with the Jabuti Award, awarded by the Câmara do Livro in three different years, in addition to other awards in the arts.

Today the art system participates directly in the laws of the media and economic system. To handle his schedule, Perlingeiro created a platform that he shares with his children Amanda, Max and Victor. “A third of my time is spent managing 18 important private and institutional collections located in Fortaleza, Alagoas, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. My children take care of exhibitions, books and other more private matters”.

With prospective work in September, Perlingeiro, a long-time gallery owner, will reveal in exhibition what motivated Antonio Dias to follow and collect Leonilson's production, whose preferred representation is his own universe. Perlingeiro is the co-curator of the exhibition: “The main one is Antonio Dias”, he says with the humor of someone who has been dealing with artists since the 60s. at the Pinakotheke in Rio, which involves artist friends and their experiential and artistic affinities. Let's wait.


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