“Fifty Years of Realism” Exhibition Arrives at Rio’s CCBB

By Jack Arnhold, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This Wednesday, May 22nd, the exhibition “50 Anos de Realismo – Do Fotorrealismo à Realidade Virtual” (Fifty Years of Realism: From Photo-Realism to Virtual Reality) will arrive at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) in Rio’s city center, where it will be open to the public for free until Sunday, July 29th.

“For a long time I’ve been interested in the role that reality plays in art, and also in the role that the artist plays in this context, as the protagonist,” comments curator Tereza de Arruda.

With this exhibition, de Arruda and CCBB aim to present the Brazilian public with a comprehensive overview of how artists have been attempting to depict reality during the last fifty years, namely through the currents of photo-realism, hyper-realism, and virtual reality art.

The exhibition brings together works from thirty different artists, including five Brazilians, and encompasses painters, sculptors, and artists working in new media from the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, Chile, Denmark, Greece, Zimbabwe, and Canada.

Including works by some of the most internationally renowned photo-realist and hyper-realist artists, such as Pedro Campos, Craig Wylie, Paul Cadden, and Ben Johnson, the exhibition also brings together pioneering works from the sixties and seventies by artists such as John Salt, Ralph Goings, Ben Schonzeit, and Richard Maclean.

Asked how she managed to acquire all of these artworks for the show, de Arruda says: “It was a huge effort with various partners, alongside help from the artists themselves who were able to contact galleries and collectors.”

The Plus One Gallery from London, which specializes in hyper-realist art, contributed an enormous amount of international artworks to the exhibition, as well as helping with research and consultation.

De Arruda has also included five Brazilian artists – Fábio Magalhães, Hildebrando de Castro, Regina Silveira, Giovanni Caramello, and Rafael Carneiro – who operate within the realms of photo-realism and hyper-realism.

“When we put together this exhibition, we thought it was very important to research who in Brazil is producing these works and what artists are part of the dialogue in this context,” de Arruda comments.

She adds: “Because Brazilian art is part of the international dialogue, I started to investigate and we were very happy to discover the Brazilian artists who are included in this exhibition.”

The exhibition also pushes beyond the traditional mediums of painting and sculpture to explore newer avenues of hyper-realist art, including video, virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality artwork. These new virtual “spaces” will be available for visitors to experience and explore first-hand.

On Wednesday, May 22nd, at 6:30 PM there will also be a special talk with the curator Tereza de Arruda, artists Hildebrando de Castro, Rafael Carneiro, Ricardo Cinalli, Regina Silveira, and Plus One Gallery co-director Maggie Bollaert. Free tickets will be distributed from 5:30 PM onwards.

What: “50 anos de Realismo –Do fotorrealismo à Realidade Virtual”
When: Wednesday, May 22nd to Sunday, July 29th; 9 AM – 9 PM
Where: Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil Rio de Janeiro, Rua Primeiro de Março, 66 – Centro
Entrance: Free

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