The selection of works from Galeria Estação for Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 considers the integration of Brazilian art into the international circuit since the mid-20th century—particularly the art referred to as “popular” in Brazil. The meanings assigned to the term are still a matter of debate. However, the label “popular art” is commonly used in opposition to “modern” or “contemporary” art, often to describe works that exist on the margins of what is considered the highbrow cultural sphere, or to designate the work of those without formal artistic training—distinctions that often involve social class discrimination. It is also common to confuse “popular” with “folklore,” with an idealized state of “purity” and “ingenuity,” or with crafts, the trades and knowledge passed down within families or communities.
In this exhibition, however, the term “popular” also encompasses imagination and invention. It refers to a body of work that does not adhere to the rules or standards of either craft or modern/contemporary art. The popular art presented here proposes unconventional forms, materials, and techniques. It is a gathering of more than 30 works created from the 1930s to the present by 13 Brazilian artists with diverse origins, training, and cultural backgrounds. This selection offers a historical perspective, allowing one to trace the various connections between Brazilian artists and the international art scene over the past 100 years. Likewise, it highlights the transformations that the cultural environment in Brazil, the global art system, and the very concept of “popular” art have undergone during this period. This is particularly relevant today, as a decolonizing phenomenon—challenging the Eurocentric foundations of art institutions and the disciplines of theory, history, and art criticism—gains momentum.
