Bienal do Mercosul

3RD MERCOSUL BIENNIAL 2001

15 Oct - 16 Dec 2001

Gu Wenda (China) - Estrada de Seda, 2001 – Usina do Gasômetro
3RD MERCOSUL BIENNIAL 2001
15 October - 16 December 2001

General curator: Fabio Magalhães
Assistant curator: Leonor Amarante

Artists:
Adriana Gonzalez Brun, Albano Afonso, Alex Flemming, Alice Vinagre, Ana Salcovsky, Anabel Vanoni (com Fernanda Rotondaro), Angelika Heckl, Ar Detroy/ Charly Nijensohn, Ayrson Heráclito, Bettina Brizuela, Caetano Dias, Carlito Carvalhosa, Carlos Colombino, Carlos Leppe, Carlos S. Pellegrino, Carlos Trilnick, Catalina Parra, Cecilia Mattos, Cecília Noriega-bozovich, Christian Bendayán, Christian Ceuppens, Claudia Casarino, Claudia Coca, Clorindo Testa, Cristian Avaria, Daniel Senise, Demian Schopf, Diego Rivera, Dolores Cáceres, Edgardo Giménez, Edney Antunes, Eduardo Coimbra, Eduardo Frota, Eduardo Pla, Emilio Santisteban, Enrica Bernardelli, Enrique Aguerre, Enrique Collar, Erika Ewel, Fábio Faria, Falos & Stercus, Félix Bressan, Fernanda Rotondaro (com Anabel Vanoni), Fernando Alvares Cozzi, Flávio Wild, Fredi Casco, Gabriele Gomes, Gaio, Gil Vicente, Giorgio Ronna, Grupo Bijari, Guaracy Gabriel, Hudinilson Jr., Ieda Oliveira, Isabel Montecinos Marin, Iturria, Iuri Sarmento, Jailton Moreira, Jane Bruggemann, Jaqueline Valdívia, Joel Pizzini, Jorge Menna Barreto, José Augusto Loureiro, José Cirillo, José Patricio, José Resende, Josefina Guilisasti Gana, Juliana Morgado, Juliano De Moraes, Karin Lambrecht, Laura Lima, Leda Catunda, Leila Pugnaloni, Lotty Rosenfeld, Luiz Mauro, Magela Ferrero, Marcela Mouján, Marcelo Medina, Marcelo Scalzo, Márcia Xavier, Marco Giannotti, Marco Giannotti, Marco Maggi, Mario Ramiro, Marité Zaldívar, Marlene Bergamo, Marta Neves, Martín Sastre, Mauro Bellagamba, Miguel Aguirre, Monica Gonzales, Mónica González, Mônica Rubinho, Natália Coutinho, Nora Correas, Nora Iniesta, Oriana Duarte, Pablo Damiani, Patricia Flain, Patricia Mariaca, Paulo Pasta, Paulo Whitaker, Pazé, Pedro Barrail, Phoenix Grupo De Dança, Rafael França, Ramiro Garavito, Raul Mourão, Robson Parente, Rodrigo Vega Rodriguez, Rogério Pessôa, Sandra Gamarra, Sayonara Pinheiro, Sequeira, Sergio Fingermann, Sérgio Helle, Sidney Philocreon, Silvia Rivas, Tal R, Tânia Bloomfield, Tatiana Martins De Mello, Ticiano Paludo, Valéria Oliveira, Valia Carvalho, Vera Martini, Vivianne Salinas, Voluspa Jarpa, Waldo Gómez, Walton Hoffmann

With he slogan "art everywhere" the 3rd Mercosul Biennial included Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, with Peru as guest country.

The 3rd Biennial represented a fundamental period of transition towards a new level of organisation and professionalism, which would be consolidated in the fourth edition.

With no defined theme, the third edition was known more for its "city of containers". Part of the exhibition took place inside a series of freight containers in a 60,000-m2 area of the Parque Maurício Sirotsky Sobrinho, with 51 containers housing works by 51 artists. This Biennial was also strongly recognised for seeking to map emerging work and promote a vision for the future while giving over a large space to the work of young artists.

The curators sought to emphasise the nomadic nature of contemporary art. In addition to using unusual spaces not traditionally associated with cultural events, other segments of the exhibition, such as the performance event in the São Pedro Psychiatric Hospital in which eighteen artists showed their works in the premises and grounds of the sumptuous hospital building dating from the Imperial Provincial Government, also fulfilled the aim of showing the transitory nature of contemporary art.

While seeking to provide a broad overview of contemporary Latin American art, the 3rd Biennial also included a parallel segment of special exhibitions shown in the Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul and the Usina do Gasômetro. The historical exhibitions of Edvard Munch and the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera both had special rooms in the Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul. The Rivera exhibition brought 44 works from more than 50 years of the career the master of Mexican Muralism to South America for the first time.

In an attempt to preserve the experimental and emergent spirit that was a feature of the 2nd Biennial, the curators proposed a view of painting which avoided an historical or nostalgic approach and promoted a dialogue with other two- and three-dimensional art-forms. The exhibition entitled Pictorial Poetics sought to accentuate the expansion of painting beyond its conventional limits.

The artist of honour at the 3rd Mercosul Biennial was Rafael França.

Admission to the 3rd Biennial was free and estimated attendance figures of 600,000 greatly exceeding the initial target.

Twelve artists from this edition showed their works in the recently-opened Caixa Federal Cultural Centre in Brasília/DF, as part of the touring programme. The photographer Gal Oppido showed a photographic essay about setting up the 3rd Biennial in a kind of "making of" documentary showing the work that went into organising the event.

Source: "A Concise History of the Mercosul Biennial"
 

Tags: Albano Afonso, Carlito Carvalhosa, Leda Catunda, Eduardo Coimbra, Rafael França, Sandra Gamarra, Marco Giannotti, Voluspa Jarpa, Hudinilson Júnior, Karin Lambrecht, Laura Lima, Marco Maggi, Raul Mourão, Edvard Munch, Paraguay, Paulo Pasta, José Patrício, Tal R, José Resende, Diego Rivera, Lotty Rosenfeld, Martin Sastre, Daniel Senise, Paulo Whitaker, Marcia Xavier