Waldemar Cordeiro, "A Mulher que Não É B.B.", 1971

Waldemar Cordeiro

"A Mulher que Não É B.B.", 1971

impressão offset
offset print

61 x 44,5 cm
24 x 17,5 in

Waldemar Cordeiro was a key figure in the development of concrete art, a vanguard movement essential for the transition of modern art to contemporary art, which came to define 20th-century Brazilian art. Besides being a pioneer in computer art as early as the 1960s, Waldemar Cordeiro developed and implemented important landscaping designs in Brazil. In his interdisciplinary research he defended painting in its essence, with self-supporting basic colors and lines, without the backing of figurative representation. He was notable for his objective and rational art, very much associated to his theoretical studies, as well as for his investigation of industrial materials and elements. Cordeiro worked for an art accessible to all, seeking a collective sense that was also aligned with technology, to design and to landscaping. His research in art was always coupled with a social and political concern.

Waldemar Cordeiro was a key figure in Brazilian art history, playing a pivotal role in the transition from modern to contemporary art. A pioneer of movements such as concretism and computer art in both Brazil and abroad, Cordeiro’s career was marked by interdisciplinarity and a resonance with his artistic contexts, which spanned figurativism, concrete art, intuitive geometry, popcreto, and computer art.

In 1968, Cordeiro began experimenting with computer art. With the help of a program developed by Giorgio Moscati at the University of São Paulo’s Department of Physics, he devised a method with a scale that ranged from 0 to 7 to represent chromatic gradations extending from very light (0) to dark (7), using symbols and letters. For A Mulher que Não É B.B., he used this computer program to transfer the image of a Vietnamese girl – a war victim published in Time magazine – making an allusion to the French actress Brigitte Bardot, whose visit to Brazil had recently caused a sensation in this country. Before this work, Cordeiro had explored similar techniques in Derivadas de uma Imagem: Transformação em Grau 1, transforming the romantic image of a young couple.

Waldemar Cordeiro foi um dos principais agentes da história da arte brasileira, figura chave para a transição da arte moderna para a contemporânea, sendo precursor de movimentos artísticos, como o Concretismo e a Computer Art no Brasil e no exterior, além de paisagista. Sua trajetória artística foi marcada pela interdisciplinaridade e ressonância com seus respectivos contextos: Figurativismo, Arte Concreta, Geometria Intuitiva, Popcreto e Arte de Computador.

Em 1968, Waldemar Cordeiro inicia sua pesquisa com arte em computador. Com a ajuda de um programa desenvolvido por Giorgio Moscati, do Departamento de Física da USP, o artista criou uma metodologia onde uma escala de 0 a 7 indicava uma gradação cromática entre o muito claro (0) e o escuro (7), por meio de símbolos e letras. Através desse programa, para “A Mulher que não é B.B”, Waldemar Cordeiro transferiu a imagem de uma garota vietnamita, vítima da guerra, publicada pela Time Magazine, e fez uma alusão à atriz francesa Brigitte Bardot, que na época havia causado furor no Brasil com sua visita. Antes dessa obra, Waldemar Cordeiro experimentava com outras imagens, como em “Derivadas de uma imagem: Transformação em Grau 1", onde ele transformou a imagem de um jovem casal romântico.