Pontal, Brazil, 1922 —
São Paulo, Brazil, 2022

Judith Lauand (Pontal, São Paulo, 1922 — São Paulo, São Paulo, 2022). Painter and engraver. An important name of the concrete movement, it is recognized for its works with precise geometric shapes, for the mathematical rigor of its compositions consisting of lines, planes and vectors, and mixed with contrasting colors. Throughout his career, he experimented with different techniques, such as engraving, drawings, gouaches, collages, woodcuts, tapestries, embroidery, and sculptures.

In 1950, he graduated from the Araraquara Fine Arts School, in the interior of São Paulo, where he learned painting. At that time, Lauand painted still lifes, more figurative paintings, and portraits. He moved to São Paulo in 1952 and took printmaking classes, during which time he began experimenting with this technique and moving towards abstraction in his works.

Her approach to the artistic avant-garde took place in 1953, the year in which she worked as a monitor for the 2nd São Paulo Biennial and came into contact with works by artists such as the Swiss Paul Klee (1879-1940), an important name in the expressionist movement, the modernist Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) and the American sculptor and painter famous for his furniture Alexander Calder (1898-1976).

In 1955, she joined Grupo Ruptura and is known as the only woman officially part of the group, comprising Waldemar Cordeiro (1925-1973), Geraldo de Barros (1923-1998) and Luiz Sacilotto (1924-2003). The interaction with the concretists, both in the visual arts and in literature, encourages Lauand in his search for geometric shapes, with mathematical precision and reflection on the composition of lines, vectors, and shapes.

The work From the Circle to the Oval (1958) represents the rigor in the structure of lines, which start from a point and rotate and form other geometric figures. The interior of the image resembles a circle that radiates into an oval shape when viewed in its entirety. The background color, a vibrant yellow, corroborates the artist’s care in choosing pure and lively colors that contrast with the geometric composition.

The artist is recognized nationally and internationally, participating in important group exhibitions, such as the 1st National Concrete Art Exhibition (1956), held at the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM/SP); the First Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe (1959-1960), which includes cities such as Munich, Lisbon, Madrid and Paris; and Judith Lauand: Abstractions of Brazilian Concretism (2017), at the gallery Driscoll Babcock, in New York, highlighting his constant role in the arts system.

In the 1960s, Lauand went through a phase related to pop art and added other elements to his canvases, such as tacks, fabrics, pins, strings and clips, and inserted words, also influenced by the concrete poetry with which he was in contact at the time, such as that of Décio Pignatari (1927-2012). The work Te Amor (1969) is an example of this pop phase and brings to the screen the faces of a man and a woman, painted with strong and contrasting colors, such as yellow, burgundy and dark blue. In the painting, we can see that the woman has her face turned and the man, who is in front of her, seems to be pressing her against the wall. The scene seems to simulate an attempted kiss between a couple, and at the bottom of the screen are the words “Te” and below “A Mor”. We can read as it is in the title “Love You” or, if we invert it, we can read “A Mor Te”, showing how the artist plays with words and situations.

He

founded Galeria Novas Tendência, in São Paulo, with the artists Hermelindo Fiaminghi (1920-2004) and Luiz Sacilotto, as a space to exhibit concrete artists, inaugurated with the Inaugural Collective Exhibition 1 (1963), which aims to introduce new artists to the art market.

In his works there is a mathematical formulation with drawings that appear open or closed, such as the work Four Groups of Elements (1959), which also denotes a chromatic exploration to form the image and guarantee an optical illusion. On the screen, we see two parallel lines, in black and dark blue colors, crossed by other lines that intersect and, depending on the observation, we see a rhombus or a three-dimensional object. Lauand experiments with these forms techniques for abstraction.

Judith Lauand has been active since the beginning of her career, at the time with more figurative and academic paintings, but strengthening her production with the characteristics of concrete art. She tries pop art, however, continues to work with abstractions in her drawings. Notable for her mathematical rigor and for the precision of her forms, Judith Lauand shows in her production compositions of lines and vectors that denote movement, also working with chromatic choices that give vivacity to the works.