ARACY AMARAL
Aracy Amaral (São Paulo, 1930-) is an art critic, curator, art and architecture historian, journalist, and teacher. She studied journalism at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, working at A Gazeta as a writer for the newspaper’s women’s page. Amaral became a Master in Art History from the Faculty and Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of the University of São Paulo (FFCL/USP) in 1969, as well as a Ph.D. in 1975 from the School of Communications and Arts at USP. She received a research grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon) and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (New York). She was a full professor (1983) and full professor (1988) at the University of São Paulo.
Her initiation into museology took place as an assistant director at the USP Museum of Contemporary Art in the 1960s, assuming the technical direction of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo in the 1970s. She returned to MAC/USP as technical director in 1982, remaining until 1986.
He wrote several books and essays, organized anthologies, compiled volumes, and wrote texts for art and architecture catalogs. He also collaborated with several newspapers, such as O Estado de S. Paulo, Folha de S. Paulo, O Correio da Manhã, AUT AUT (Milan), and Arts Magazine (New York).
She curated exhibitions such as Tarsila – 50 Years of Painting (1969), Alfredo Volpi 1914-1972 (1972), and Projeto Construtivo Brasileiro na Arte (1977) at MAM/RJ; Modernity: Brazilian Art of the 20th Century (1987-1988), at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (France); Panorama, at MAM/SP (1999 and 2015); the 1st Trienal de Chile (Santiago, 2009) and the 8th Bienal do Mercosul (Porto Alegre, 2011).
She was a member of the Prince Claus Fund International Awards Committee in The Hague (2003-2005) and participated in the judging panel of art salons and biennials. She was awarded by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics (APCA) in 1973 in the Research category. Amaral is a renowned researcher of Brazilian modernism and a great specialist in Tarsila do Amaral, who granted her several interviews between the 60s and 70s.
Important Shows:
Artistas Nipo-Brasileiros (1966)
Tarsila: 50 anos de pintura (1969)
Casos de Sacos (1977)
A Nova Dimensão do Objeto (1986)
Modernidade: arte brasileira do século XX (1988)
Brasil: la nueva generación (1991)
24ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo (1998)
Tarsila: Estudo e anotações (2020)
Books:
Amaral Aracy (2001): Correspondência Mário de Andrade e Tarsila do Amaral, Brazil: Edusp
Amaral Aracy (2005): Arte e Sociedade no Brasil, Brazil: Callis
Amaral Aracy (2010): Textos do Trópico de Capricórnio – vol. 1 Artigos e ensaios (1980-2005): Modernismo, arte moderna e o compromisso com o lugar, Brazil: editora 34
Amaral Aracy (2010): Tarsila Sua obra e seu tempo, Brazil: editora 34
Amaral Aracy (2013) Arte e meio artístico: entre a feijoada e o x-burguer Artigos e ensaios (1961-1981): Brazil: editora 34
Amaral Aracy (2017): Artes plásticas na Semana de 22, Brazil: editora 34
Amaral Aracy (2020): Tarsila: Estudo e anotações, Brazil: WMF – COEDIÇÃO
Interesting Links:
ARACY AMARAL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PYCVt3UClc
A carreira como pesquisadora – Ocupação Aracy Amaral (2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zTcePxCWtM
A educação do olhar – Ocupação Aracy Amaral (2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAAXPGBhAoM
Conversa com Aracy Amaral (UFG – Banquete de Livros 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU2WOAsScdc
MAC USP Depoimentos – Gestão Aracy Amaral MAC USP (1982-1986): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iOKy2G-vmo
Moderno Onde? Moderno Quando?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFBLg0Qoino
O lugar do Feminino no Modernismo Brasileiro – Aracy Amaral: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as8kXpGcFJ0