A Simons of Assisi inaugurates, in São Paulo, the exhibition “Cicero Dias – Pioneer of Abstract Art in Brazil", with critical text by the curator and historian Gerardo MosqueraThe exhibition presents a collection of works that highlight the artist's unique role as a precursor of an abstract language developed before the consolidation of concretism in the country.
The exhibition brings together works produced between the 1940s and the early 1960s, a period in which Dias transitioned from figuration to abstraction. In the canvases of the 1940s, organic forms begin to dissolve the figurative image; in the following decade, more structured geometric compositions emerge. Throughout this trajectory, his production reveals itself in constant transformation, articulating lyrical and constructive elements between formal rigor and the sensory memory of Pernambuco.
In addition to the exhibition
One of the central aspects of the exhibition is the coexistence, in the same work, between lyrical abstraction and geometry. In the paintings from the 1940s, references to European abstraction dialogue with chromatic elements and forms that evoke the landscape of Pernambuco. In the works from the 1950s—the core of the exhibition—the compositions explore spiral and diagonal movements, creating tension in the geometric space within the pictorial framework.
This production challenges strictly formal interpretations. Dias's works are permeated by color, light, and movement, reflecting a profound relationship with his cultural origins. As Gerardo Mosquera points out, it is a work that calls for "more of a body-eye than a rationalist machine-eye."
The exhibition also highlights the artist's independent trajectory within the Latin American context. Even in the early 1940s, Dias was already developing abstract experiments—a movement that, in Brazil, only consolidated in the following decade with concretism and neoconcretism—anticipating trends that marked later generations.
Based in Europe from the late 1930s, the artist was a member of the Groupe Espace and the Denise René Gallery, the epicenter of constructivist art in France, maintaining a dialogue with important international artistic groups. Throughout his career, he maintained continuous contact with Brazil, to which he traveled frequently and where he created large-scale works.
Exhibition | Cicero Dias – Pioneer of Abstract Art in Brazil
From June 02st to July 18th
Monday to Friday, from 10 am to 19 pm, and Saturdays, from 10 am to 15 pm.
