This exhibition brings together a diverse group of artists spanning more than a century of Brazilian art. The project takes as its point of departure a historical work from the twentieth century, which acts as a catalyst for formal, symbolic, and thematic relationships among works from different periods and contexts. The exhibition is structured through free association, privileging narrative and metaphorical connections rather than linear or chronological readings.

The exhibition narrative emerges from Sant’Anna, by Maria Leontina, from which emanates a dramatic pathos that guides the exhibition’s trajectory. The representation of the sacred image reappears in Saint George, by Sérgio Romagnolo, whose affinity with Leontina’s work lies not only on a thematic level, but also in formal terms. In both works, figure and ground tend toward dissolution.

Darkness, heat, and the transformation of matter emerge as elements connecting these works to the paintings of Rodrigo Andrade, José Antônio da Silva and Mario N. Ishikawa, artists from different generations who, each in their own way, expand the material and conceptual possibilities of painting. These relationships also resonate in works by Farnese de Andrade, Waltercio Caldas, and Emmanuel Nassar, whose practices tension perception, memory, precariousness, and affective density.

The exhibition also includes a section dedicated to the so-called Generation 80, with particular emphasis on Leonilson, Jorge Guinle, Cristina Canale, and Paulo Pasta. Although grounded in distinct visual languages, their works share an interest in subjectivity, the reinvention of painting, and the construction of emotional atmospheres that permeate the exhibition as a whole.