Maurício Nogueira Lima

Maurício Nogueira Lima (Recife, PE, 1930 - Campinas, SP, 1999)

Maurício Nogueira Lima was a painter, architect, draftsman, graphic artist, and teacher. At the age of two, he moved with his family to São Paulo. Between 1947 and 1950, he studied fine arts at the Institute of Fine Arts of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Porto Alegre. Returning to São Paulo in 1951, he attended courses in visual communication, industrial design, and advertising at the Institute of Contemporary Art of the São Paulo Museum of Art Assis Chateaubriand (MASP), where he met Alexandre Wollner, Antônio Maluf, and Leopoldo Haar.

At the invitation of Waldemar Cordeiro, he joined the Ruptura Group in 1953 and participated in several concrete art exhibitions in the following years. He studied architecture at Mackenzie Presbyterian University in São Paulo between 1953 and 1957. In 1958, he was responsible for creating the logo and visual programming for the 1st International Textile Industry Fair (Fenit) in São Paulo. In 1960, he created the first large-scale environmental installations for the automotive industry at the São Paulo Motor Show.

Starting in 1974, he taught at several institutions, including the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of São Paulo (FAU/USP), where he completed his master's and doctorate in urban environmental structures. In the 1980s and 1990s, he developed several projects in public spaces, such as Roosevelt Square, Largo São Bento, subway stations, and the Costa e Silva elevated highway, all in the city of São Paulo.

Critical Commentary

Mauricio Nogueira Lima studied at the Institute of Fine Arts of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul between 1947 and 1949. He attended the visual communication and advertising course at the Institute of Contemporary Art of the São Paulo Museum of Art between 1951 and 1956. During this period, he developed work in the field of visual communication alongside Alexandre Wollner (1928) and Antônio Maluf (1926 - 2005).

In the painting Composition 1, 1952, he creates horizontal and vertical rhythms, presenting red and black incidences that contrast with the white surface of the support. He gradually embraced concrete painting, joining the Ruptura Group in 1955. In addition to his interest in the constructivist discipline, the artist dedicated himself to increasing chromatic experimentation, as in the canvas "Untitled" (1962), in which he presents small squares of ochre, blue, and green distributed over a red background. The use of complementary colors creates a strong chromatic vibration in the painting. "Rhythmic Object No. 2," from the 1970s, is a composition of regular geometric shapes, alternating between yellow and black. The ensemble, through the symmetry and repetition of a graphic pattern, offers the viewer the optical illusion of spiral movement.

In more recent paintings, the artist further explores the opposition between small areas of light and color and broad chromatic expanses. As the visual artist Claudio Tozzi (1944) points out, Maurício Nogueira Lima's works are designed based on sensitive geometry and executed with light gestures, revealing an intimate and reflective work.

Critiques

"The development of Maurício Nogueira Lima's work over the last two decades can be situated in parallel with that of Waldemar Cordeiro, differing only in its more recent consequences. In fact, both were among the first of our artists to absorb, after the 1st São Paulo International Biennial in 1951, the new language of concrete art (...). Both would also incorporate, in a contradiction of direction that was only apparent, the revival of figuration in the early years of the following decade, influenced by North American pop art; for Nogueira Lima, his professional activity in the field of advertising provided a sufficient basis and attraction for this new direction, where rigor remains, under another aspect: 'The figure for me does not have the same meaning as it does for an expressionist artist. The drawing of a face or anything else is equivalent to design. (...) Communication is the only thing that matters, industrial, modern communication (...)', he said in 1967. However, after this phase of quasi-appropriation of urban folklore (...) Maurício Nogueira Lima resumed his old interest in stripped-down geometric abstraction, in keeping with the current language of op art and virtual kinetic effects."
Roberto Pontual
PONTUAL, Roberto. Art/Brazil/today: 50 years later. São Paulo: Collectio, 1973.

"(...) he turned, at this time (1964 to 1970), to a figuration whose closest kinship was with pop art: high contrasts, grids, the use of images related to (or extracted from) consumer society. But it's important to know that the motivations were different. In Maurício's case, there was no influence from pop art (which he wasn't even familiar with), but rather from a long-standing professional experience with graphic arts. Furthermore, his figurative phase had a clearly participatory character, always developing along a line of critique of ideas and position-taking (...)".
Olívio Tavares de Araújo
Araújo, Olívio Tavares de. Paintings. São Paulo: Galeria de Arte Global, 1977.

"His training in various fields (visual arts, visual communication, and architecture) led Maurício Nogueira Lima (...) to a multifaceted professional application, including teaching among his activities. An artist with the most dogmatic rational principles, he maintained some instituting constants, especially in the optical animation of spaces, the serialization of constructions, and also in the specific search for colored grids. His first works, in this last aspect, were in black and white and red and black, and date from 1955, when he used color only in a structural sense, to separate forms. The gridded works continued until 1963 and are one of his strongest characteristics. Between 1964 and 1970, he abruptly interrupted this concrete production 'due to a lack of emotional balance in the face of sociopolitical events in the country' and, in the spirit of the New Figurations, he moved to an iconography based in high-contrast photography with a repertoire drawn from mass media. After the break, the return to geometric art was certainly made with greater freedom in the structuring of form and in the luminous sensibility of color, with some figurative elements insinuating themselves into the compositions."
Walter Zanini
ZANINI, Walter, ed. General History of Art in Brazil. Presentation by Walther Moreira Salles. São Paulo: Instituto Walther Moreira Salles, Fundação Djalma Guimarães, 1983.

Solo Exhibitions

1960 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Maurício Nogueira Lima: retrospective, at MAM/RJ
1962 - Campinas, SP - Solo exhibition, at Aremar Gallery
1965 - São Paulo, SP - Solo exhibition, at Galeria Mobilínea
1975 - São Paulo, SP - Solo exhibition, at Galeria Modular
1976 - Campinas, SP - Solo exhibition, at the Campinas Cultural Coexistence Center
1977 - São Paulo, SP - Maurício Nogueira Lima: 77 paintings, at Galeria Arte Global
1978 - Tatuí, SP - Maurício Nogueira Lima: paintings, at the Tatuí Music Conservatory.
1979 - Santo André, SP - Maurício Nogueira Lima: paintings and silkscreens, at Kris Art Gallery
1979 - São Paulo, SP - Solo exhibition, at Itaugaleria
1980 - São Paulo SP - Maurício Nogueira Lima: visual research from the last 5 years, at the Cosme Velho Gallery
1984 - São Paulo SP - The Constructive Vision of Maurício Nogueira Lima, at the CCSP
1986 - São Paulo SP - Reflection and Refraction, at the Choice Gallery
1990 - São Paulo SP - Solo exhibition, at the Livraria Letrativa. Mira Schendel Room
1993 - São Paulo SP - Maurício Nogueira Lima: a creative process through images, graphic essays and paintings, at Casa das Rosas
1994 - São Paulo SP - Maurício Nogueira Lima: paintings, at A Hebraica
1997 - São Paulo SP - Solo exhibition, at the Ruy Sant'Anna Gallery

Group Exhibitions

1952 - São Paulo SP - 2nd São Paulo Modern Art Salon - acquisition prize
1954 - São Paulo SP - 3rd São Paulo Modern Art Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia - acquisition prize
1955 - São Paulo SP - 3rd São Paulo International Biennial, at the Pavilhão das Nações
1955 - São Paulo SP - 4th São Paulo Modern Art Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1956 - São Paulo SP - 1st National Exhibition of Concrete Art, at MAM/SP
1957 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Modern Art in Brazil, at Museo de Arte Moderno
1957 - Lima (Peru) - Modern Art in Brazil, at Museo de Arte de Lima
1957 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st National Exhibition of Concrete Art, at MAM/RJ
1957 - Rosario (Argentina) - Modern Art in Brazil, at Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes Juan B. Castagnino
1957 - Santiago (Chile) - Modern Art in Brazil, at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
1957 - São Paulo SP - 4th São Paulo International Biennial, at Pavilhão Ciccilo Matarazzo Sobrinho
1957 - São Paulo SP - São Paulo Modern Art Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1958 - São Paulo SP - Leirner Contemporary Art Prize, at Galeria de Arte das Folhas
1959 - Leverkusen (Germany) - 1st Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1959 - Munich (Germany) - 1st Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe, at Kunsthaus
1959 - São Paulo SP - 8th São Paulo Modern Art Salon - acquisition prize
1959 - São Paulo SP - Leirner Contemporary Art Prize, at Galeria de Arte das Folhas
1959 - Vienna (Austria) - 1st Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1960 - Hamburg (Germany) - 1st Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1960 - Lisbon (Portugal) - 1st Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1960 - Madrid (Spain) - 1st Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1960 - Paris (France) - 1st Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1960 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Concrete Art Exhibition, at MAM/RJ
1960 - São Paulo SP - 9th São Paulo Modern Art Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1960 - São Paulo SP - Leirner Contemporary Art Prize, at Galeria de Arte das Folhas
1960 - Utrecht (Netherlands) - 1st Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1960 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Konkrete Kunst, at Helmhaus, organized by Max Bill
1961 - São Paulo SP - 6th São Paulo International Biennial, at Pavilhão Ciccilo Matarazzo Sobrinho
1962 - São Paulo SP - 11th São Paulo Modern Art Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1963 - São Paulo SP - Galeria Novas Tendências: inaugural group exhibition, at Associação de Artes Visuais Novas Tendências
1965 - Porto Alegre RS - Five Vanguard Painters, at MARGS
1965 - São Paulo SP - 8th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1965 - São Paulo SP - Proposta 65, at MAB/FAAP
1966 - Salvador BA - 1st National Biennial of Visual Arts - acquisition prize
1967 - Campinas SP - 3rd Contemporary Art Salon, at MACC
1967 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - New Brazilian Objectivity, at MAM/RJ
1967 - São Paulo SP - 17th São Paulo Modern Art Salon - Grand Silver Medal
1967 - São Paulo SP - 6 Painters of the New Objectivity, at IAB/SP
1967 - São Paulo SP - 9th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1967 - Tokyo (Japan) - Tokyo Biennale
1968 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The Brazilian Artist and Mass Iconography, at ESDI
1968 - São Paulo SP - 17th São Paulo Modern Art Salon - Grand Prize of the State Council for Culture
1970 - Paris (France) - Salon d’Automne
1970 - São Paulo SP - 2nd São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon - 1st prize in painting
1970 - São Paulo SP - Group exhibition, at IAB/SP
1971 - Barcelona (Spain) - International Sports Biennial
1971 - São Paulo SP - Football x Art, at Paço das Artes
1972 - São Paulo SP - Art/Brazil/Today: 50 Years Later, at Galeria da Collectio
1973 - Brasília DF - Architects Painters, at Touring Clube do Brasil
1973 - São Paulo SP - 12th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1973 - São Paulo SP - 5th Panorama of Brazilian Contemporary Art, at MAM/SP
1974 - São Paulo SP - 5th São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon, at MASP - State Council for Culture Prize: Painting
1976 - São Paulo SP - 8th Panorama of Brazilian Contemporary Art, at MAM/SP
1977 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Constructive Project in Art: 1950-1962, at MAM/RJ
1977 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Constructive Project in Art: 1950-1962, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1978 - São Paulo SP - Biennials and Abstraction: the 1950s, at Museu Lasar Segall
1978 - São Paulo SP - The Object in Art: Brazil in the 1960s, at MAB/FAAP
1979 - São Paulo SP - 11th Panorama of Brazilian Contemporary Art, at MAM/SP
1979 - São Paulo SP - Return to the Figure: the 1960s, at Museu Lasar Segall
1981 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Contemporary Artists, at Galeria de Arte São Paulo
1982 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Universe of Football, at MAM/RJ
1983 - São Paulo SP - 14th Panorama of Brazilian Contemporary Art, at MAM/SP
1983 - São Paulo SP - Project Reinterpretation, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1984 - São Paulo SP - Arte na Rua 2
1984 - São Paulo SP - Tradition and Rupture: Synthesis of Brazilian Art and Culture, at Fundação Bienal
1985 - Penápolis SP - Northwest Fine Arts Salon, at Fundação das Artes de Penápolis
1985 - São Paulo SP - 18th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1986 - São Paulo SP - 17th Panorama of Brazilian Contemporary Art, at MAM/SP
1987 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Geometric Abstraction: Concretism and Neo-Concretism, at Funarte
1987 - São Paulo SP - Geometric Abstraction: Concretism and Neo-Concretism, at MAB/FAAP
1988 - São Paulo SP - 63/66 Figure and Object, at Galeria Millan
1991 - São Paulo SP - Artist-Architects, at MASP
1991 - São Paulo SP - Citizenship: 200 Years of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, at Sesc Pompéia
1991 - São Paulo SP - Constructivism: Poster Art 40/50/60, at MAC/USP
1991 - São Paulo SP - Synchronies
1992 - Poços de Caldas MG - Brazilian Modern Art: Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the University of São Paulo, at Casa de Cultura
1992 - São Paulo SP - Citizenship - 200 Years of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1992 - São Paulo SP - Reopening Exhibition of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Americana, at MAC/Americana
1994 - Poços de Caldas MG - Unibanco Collection: commemorative exhibition for Unibanco’s 70th anniversary, at Casa de Cultura
1994 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Unibanco Collection: commemorative exhibition for Unibanco’s 70th anniversary, at MAM/RJ
1994 - São Paulo SP - Brazil 20th Century Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1994 - São Paulo SP - Cláudio Tozzi, Ivald Granato, Cleber Machado, Maurício Nogueira Lima, Rubens Gerchman, Siron Franco and Tomoshige Kusuno, at A Hebraica
1995 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Unibanco Collection: commemorative exhibition for Unibanco’s 70th anniversary, at MAM/RJ
1995 - Santos SP - 5th National Biennial of Santos, at Prefeitura Municipal de Santos
1995 - São Paulo SP - United Artists, at Casa das Rosas
1996 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Constructive Trends in the MAC/USP Collection: construction, measure and proportion, at CCBB
1996 - São Paulo SP - Desexp(l)os(ign)ition, at Casa das Rosas
1996 - São Paulo SP - The World of Mario Schenberg, at Casa das Rosas
1997 - São Paulo SP - Great Names of Brazilian Painting, at Jo Slaviero Galeria de Arte
1998 - Brasília DF - Cien Recuerdos para Garcia Lorca, at Espaço Cultural 508 Sul
1998 - Niterói RJ - Reflection of the Biennial, at MAC/Niterói
1998 - São Paulo SP - Constructive Art in Brazil: Adolpho Leirner Collection, at MAM/SP
1998 - São Paulo SP - Lines and Forms, at Jo Slaviero Galeria de Arte
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Constructive Art in Brazil: Adolpho Leirner Collection, at MAM/RJ

Posthumous Exhibitions

1999 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Constructive Art in Brazil: Adolpho Leirner Collection, at MAM/RJ
1999 - São Paulo, SP - The 1950s and Their Involvements, at the Jo Slaviero Art Gallery
2000 - Lisbon (Portugal) - 20th Century: Art from Brazil, at the José de Azeredo Perdigão Center for Modern Art
2000 - São Paulo, SP - Brazil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition, at the Biennial Foundation
2000 - São Paulo, SP - Pirelli Collection in the MAM Collection: Brazilian Art in the 1960s, at MAM/SP
2000 - São Vicente, SP - The Art of Maurício Nogueira Lima: Retrospective, at the CCBEU
2002 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Brazilian Art in the Collection Fadel: from the restlessness of the modern to the autonomy of language, at the CCBB
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Parallels: Brazilian art from the second half of the 20th century in context, Cisneros Collection, at MAM/RJ
2002 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian art in the Fadel Collection: from the restlessness of the modern to the autonomy of language, at the CCBB
2002 - São Paulo SP - Cityproject/cityexperience, at MAM/SP
2002 - São Paulo SP - Map of Now: recent Brazilian art in the João Sattamini Collection of the Niterói Museum of Contemporary Art, at the Tomie Ohtake Institute
2002 - São Paulo SP - Parallels: Brazilian art from the second half of the 20th century in context, Cisneros Collection, at MAM/SP
2003 - Brasília DF - Brazilian art in Fadel Collection: from the restlessness of the modern to the autonomy of language, at the CCBB
2003 - Mexico City (Mexico) - Cuasi Corpus: concrete and neoconcrete art from Brazil: a selection from the collection of the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art and the Adolpho Leirner Collection, at the Rufino Tamayo Museum
2003 - São Paulo SP - Art and Society: a controversial relationship, at Itaú Cultural