Germana Monte-Mór

1958, Rio de Janeiro | RJ - Brazil

Designer, engraver, painter and sculptor. She studied social sciences at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ and engraving at the Escolinha de Arte do Brasil (Brazil School of Art). She moved to São Paulo in 1983, where she studied arts at the Armando Álvares Penteado - Faap Foundation between 1985; in 1989 she concluded her master's degree in visual poetry in 2002 at the School of Communications and Arts of the University of São Paulo (ECA / USP), with the dissertation Lugares do Desenho, directed by Marco Giannotti (1966). In 1989, she received the Ateliê II grant from the Oswald de Andrade Cultural Office in São Paulo; the acquisition prize at the 1st Canson Prize at the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo - MAM / SP in 1989 and at the National Biennial of Santos, São Paulo, in 1993. In 2004, she received the Bolsa Vitae de Artes, Fundação Vitae . The research of new materials is one of the main features of the artist's work.

Critical Commentary

The initial works of Germana Monte-Mór, from the late 1980s to the beginning of the following decade, are carried out with asphalt or clay on paper or cloth. The artist creates organic shapes, which hold a feeling of weight due to the presence of these materials and, at the same time, suggest a rough texture. According to the art historian Rodrigo Naves, a tension generated by the instability of the forms in the compositions is present in her production. Subsequently the drawings acquire greater definition. In works carried out in 1998, the artist expands the black areas, whose intensity, for Naves, results from the apparent extravasation of the limits, rather than a saturation or extreme concentration. More recently, the artist starts working with damar oil on paper, which adds new possibilities to her work. She composes, in her works, areas of transparency and opacity, sometimes incorporating bluish pigments. In these works, for Naves, the contrasts between the regions were reduced, and a general lightness replaces the thick expansions of the previous works.

According to the art critic Luiz Renato Martins, Germana Monte-Mór's exhibition at the Morumbi Chapel in São Paulo in 2000 reveals the dialogue between the works presented and the exhibition space, whose walls are constituted by the alternation between clad areas mortar and painted with lime and others in which you can see the original pylon taipa. The artist’s works punctuate and accentuate the characteristics of the place. Because of their ample relation to architecture, the pieces suggest to the spectator the concrete and material appropriation of the space and reveal an approximation, for example, with the Bólides de Hélio Oiticica (1937 - 1980).

Source: Itaú Cultural Encyclopedia

Individual Exhibitions:

2017 Paths of imagination, Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2013 Da cabra, Marília Razuk Art Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2010 Pedra mole, Carminha Macedo Art Gallery, Belo Horizonte, BH, Brazil

2009 Luz negra, Anita Schwartz Art Gallery, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

2008 "Arrabaldes", Marília Razuk Art Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2005 Entrantes, Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2004 Marília Razuk Art Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2004 The Friends of Prints Project, Chácara do Céu Museum, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

2002-2003 Places of Drawing, Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

2002 Maria Antonia University Center, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2001 Marília Razuk Art Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2000 Morumbi Chappell, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1998 Marília Razuk Art Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1997 Almost drawings, AS Studio, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1995 Invited artist, São Paulo Cultural Center, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1994 Invited artist, Itaú Galeria, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Collective Exhibitions:

2017 MAC - USP in the 21st Century: The Era of Artists, curated by Katia Canton, MAC - USP, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2017 Ways of seeing Brazil: Itaú Cultural 30 years, curated by Paulo Herkenhoff, Oca, Ibirapuera, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2016 Collective, Gallery A2 + Multiplo Art Space, curated by Maneco Muller, Vale das Videiras, Petrópolis, RJ, Brazil

2016 On the Threshold of the Night, curated by Claudio Cretti, Galeria Sancovsky, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2016 BR 2016, Virgílio Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2015 The Spirit of Each Era, curated by Rejane Cintrão, Instituto Figueredo Ferraz, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

2014 Photography Collective, Anita Schwartz Art Gallery, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

2012 Contact Surface, Galeria Penteado, Campinas, SP, Brazil

2012 [some of] Us, curated by Claudio Cretti, Marília Razuk Art Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2012 Dream Collector, curated by Agnaldo Farias, Instituto Figueredo Ferraz, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

2012 Entrecolchetes, Private collection space - Oswaldo Correa da Costa, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2012 Drawings and Dialogues, Anita Schwartz Art Gallery, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

2011 Brazilian art: beyond the system, curated by Paulo Sergio Duarte, Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2011 New acquisitions, Anita Schwartz Art Gallery, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

2010-2011 Collection notes, curated by Guilherme Bueno, Anita Schwartz Art Gallery, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

2009 Modernstarts - Contemporary art in the 20th century collection by Pila Citoler, Córdoba, Spain.

2009 Place drawings, Marília Razuk Art Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2008-2009 Year_01, Anita Schwartz Art Gallery, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

2007 Contemporary art, recent acquisitions of the Pinacoteca do Estado collection, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2006-2007 Original prints; engraving since the 15th century, Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2006 Designated developments, Museum of Contemporary Art, Centro Dragão do Mar, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

2006 II International Ceará Print Biennial, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

2006 Singular and plural, curated by Cauê Alves, Marília Razuk Art Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2006 Exhibition of the collection of prints from the Chácara do Céu Museum, Sesc, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

2005 Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

2004 Paralela 2004, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2004 Contemporary art in the municipal collection, São Paulo Cultural Center, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2002 Genius Loci - The spirit of the Place, Maria Antonia Cultural Center, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2002 10 years, Marília Razuk Art Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1997 Santos National Biennial, Santos, SP, Brazil

1997 Galerie Douyon, Miami, USA

1997 25th Belo Horizonte National Art Exhibition, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

1996 Habitar, Conjunto Cultural da Caixa Economica Federal, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1996 III Salão MAM, Salvador, BA, Brazil

1995 Works on paper, Casa Triângulo Art Gallery, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1995 19th Carioca Art Salon, Parque Laje, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

1995 15th National Salon of Arts, FUNART, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

1995 Collective 34, Adriana Penteado Art Office, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1995 Tradition and Pioneering Spirit, Museum of Modern Art, MAM, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1994 8, UFMG Cultural Center, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

1993 Drawings, Manoel Macedo Art Gallery, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

1993 Santos National Biennial, Santos, SP, Brazil

1990 Thirteen artists, São Paulo Cultural Center, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1990 Thirteen artists, Grand Gallery, Palácio das Artes, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

1990 5 artists from São Paulo, Galeria Angelus, Belém, PA, Brazil

1990 The presence of drawing, Paço das Artes, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1989 XIV Ribeirão Preto Art Salon, SP, Brazil

1989 XXII Piracicaba Art Salon, SP, Brazil

1988 6th São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

1988 Collective exhibition, curated by Nelson Leirner, FAAP, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Public Collections:

Pinacoteca of the State of São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Londrina State University - UEL, Paraná, PR, Brazil

Itaú Cultural Collection, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Pinacoteca Municipal de São Paulo, SP, Brazil

National Library Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Chácara do Céu Museum, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Museum of Contemporary Art, Dragão do Mar Center, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil

Banco Espírito Santo

Figueiredo Ferraz Institute, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

Museum of Contemporary Art, MAC - USP, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Iberê Camargo Foundation, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Selected Publications:

2017 Catalog, "Percursos da Imaginação", Lis Gráfica, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2013 "Da Cabra", WMF - Martins Fontes, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2010 Catalog, "Arte Brasileira além do sistema", Lis Gráfica, São Paulo, SP,  Brazil