Organized by the art critic and curator Lisette Lagnado, the exhibition, which pays tribute to Pedro Moraleida Bernardes, will occupy two addresses of the new Almeida & Dale, as part of celebrations commemorating 25 years since the death of the artist from Minas Gerais, who passed away prematurely at just 22. Titled Nossa Senhora do Desejo [Our Lady of Desire], the exhibition proposes dialogs between his work, artists that influenced him, and a new generation who share his ​​rebelliousness and irreverence.

Moraleida’s intense production, characterized by disobedience, eschatology, and social criticism, has continued to be revisited and reinterpreted over the years. Thanks to the efforts of his parents, Luiz Bernandes and Nilcéa Moraleiada, as well as with teachers and other artists, his archive has always been accessible to researchers, stimulating new studies on his work. Since September 2024, the Academia Mineira de Letras (AML), in partnership with the Instituto Pedro Moraleida Bernardes (iPMB), the Viaduto das Artes, and the Grupo Oficina Multimedia, have been holding seminars and exhibitions in Belo Horizonte, encouraging reflections on the artist’s legacy. In 2019, the Instituto Tomie Ohtake held the first retrospective of the artist outside his native city, curated by Paulo Miyada.

Although often simplistically associated with German neoexpressionism, the artist’s prolific work — including drawings, paintings, texts, and sound experiments — goes far beyond that influence. Moraleida was enthusiastically received by many Brazilian and foreign curators and, according to Lisette, “there is still much more to be explored in terms of the sources that inspired him.”

Nossa Senhora do Desejo explores recurring themes in his production, including capitalism, the patriarchy, mental health, planetary war, the right to life, and artificial life. Among the many nexuses shed light on in this show, one stands out, drawing a connection between the artist and the French poet Antonin Artaud: choosing “an existence that refuses to anesthetize emotions.” As summarized by the curator, both examine an abusive and toxic society, railing against the idea of Catholic sin and the cumulative perversion of the bourgeoisie.

Other links appear, in a tentacle-like process, such as the harmony between his insubmissive force and the art of Jaider Esbell and Arthur Bispo do Rosario (in photographs captured by the lens of the master of color, Walter Firmo), rising from institutional violence and poetically transforming it into “energy for battle.” His iconoclastic nature and biting political critique likens Moraleida’s production to the work of Leon Ferrari, a fundamental figure in Latin-American conceptualism, whose series “Reileituras da Bíblia” is included in this exhibition. Other names such as Basquiat and Leonilson, often cited as influences for Moraleida, are also part of the constellation of references shown in the exhibition.

Beyond these more historical relationships, Lagnado’s proposal also includes two artists who knew Moraleida: Cinthia Marcelle, from Minas Gerais, and the Spanish-Brazilian artist Sara Ramo. From the same generation that emerged at the end of the last century, they provided special assistance in the research and conception of the exhibition. The group also includes recent productions that echo his rebellious nature, such as by the São Paulo artist Lia D Castro and the Swiss-Rio de Janeiro artist Guerreiro Do Divino Amor, whose installation “Civilizações Super Superiores [Super Superior Civilizations]” was first shown in the Swiss Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennial.

The two exhibition spaces are designed by the architect and urbanist Tiago Guiamarães, who graduated from the Universidade Federal do Ceará and has been working in São Paulo since 2005.

In addition to the already cited names, the exhibition also includes works by Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, desali, Flávio de Carvalho, Francisco de Almeida, Lia D Castro, Linga Acácio, Trojany, Marta Neves, Regina Parra — who will present a performance at the exhibition’s opening — and Thiago Martins de Melo. The poet floresta will contribute to a publication to be released during the exhibition, with a selection of seven poems taken from ​​his book rio pequeno [little river] (published by Fósforo, 2022).

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CONTENT RATING: NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PEOPLE UNDER 18 YEARS OLD
This exhibition contains images of nudity and sexual content. Viewer discretion advised.