A Brazilian buffet

New Straits Times: Kuala Lumpur — April 11, 2000

– By Ooi Kok Chuen

A BRAZILIAN Affair, an art buffet of works in various media by 16 Brazilians and a Spanish guest, offers little insight into its art history, tradition and developments.

Apart from the fact that the works are very Euro-centric and run the whole spectrum of Modern "-isms", this "affair" does not leave any tangible impressions.

The works are mostly sourced from southern Brazil where the organiser, Jurema Walendowsky Baker, once ran two galleries - one in Curitiba in the state of Parana and the other in Camborio.
Even for journalist-illustrator-cartoonist Alvaro Borges Jr, his handiwork is perplexing - a roller-coaster ride from still-lifes to Chirico-like figures and painting with dragon configurations.

As for Neri de Andrade, the self-taught "Naif" artist who hails from Florianopolis in Santa Catarina, the clinical lines and neat, predictable colour schemes only bring out the inherent weaknesses instead of using them as cover.

Another who takes cover under the "Naif" penumbra is Mara Toledo, but who shows greater compositional flair and play of contrasts.

There is nothing very exceptional about Regina Rozicki's Seuratist veneer for her still-lifes, nor in Ofil Vidal's tapestries of mundane designs though the threads were naturally dyed. At 66, Vidal is the oldest artist featured and has been working on tapestries since 1981.

Ivete Santos, despite being a degree holder in art history and fine arts, treads an oft-trodden path of playing on the rhythms of curvilinear forms and using vibrant colours but falls short in both departments, and in technique and treatment.

There are some redeeming features, though. Like Simone Campos' lyrical landscape interludes capturing the vivacity of spring, and Celso Isidoro's engaging acrylic abstracts with their spatial ambiguity, quaint rhythms and cohabitation of contrasting colours.

Also notable is the Spaniard Soto Mesa's rough-textured, well-modulated anatomical landscapes with hard-boney forms.

None of the artists was present at the exhibition opening.

Baker, who lived in Malaysia between 1978 and 1990, will take the show to Singapore, Sydney, Dublin, San Diego and London, where she is now based.

However, the artists represented and the art works will change with each stop.

The exhibition, officiated by Tunku Nurul Hayati Tunku Bahador, at the Hilton Galleria in Kuala Lumpur ends on Saturday.