Flans, Urnas Quentes and the Radicalism of a Cordial Man

The invitation to contribute to this book followed from Asbury’s earlier book on Antonio Manuel, published in 2006. Since 2006, Asbury has given keynote addresses on Manuel’s work on several occasions, including: Fundacao Ibere Camargo, in Porto Alegre Brazil in 2010; ‘Outside the Material World: The exhibition, circulation and insertion of art beyond the market’, Tate Modern in 2009; and ‘Brazilian Art and the International Avant-Garde’, Department of Art History, University of North Carolina, Asheville, USA, 2009. As part of the Americas Society Antonio Manuel exhibition programmme, Asbury was invited to give a paper on art and politics in Brazil during the military regime 1960s – 1970s at the Department of Art and Archaeology at Columbia University, New York in October 2011. He was invited to curate an exhibition on Antonio Manuel’s work in London in 2014.

Publisher's text about this book:

Edited by Claudia Calirman, Alexandra Garcia, Gabriela Rangel. Foreword by Susan Segal. Text by Claudia Calirman, Gabriela Rangel, Judith Rodenbeck, Michael Asbury. Interview by Beverly Adams.

Antonio Manuel (born 1947) helped define the groundbreaking neo-avant-garde movement that emerged in Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s. Making his mark in 1970 at the height of Brazil’s military dictatorship with “The Body is the Work” (in which he submitted his naked body to the Museu de Arte Moderna), Manuel’s conceptual and performance work and manipulation of mass-media materials would expand the possibilities of experimental art as a means to political subversion and liberation. Assembled with the direct collaboration of the artist himself, Antonio Manuel: I Want to Act, Not Represent! is the first U.S. publication devoted to his work, and includes a range of never before seen images and documents, a substantive interview, and a facsimile reproduction of Phallic Weapon, a photo-novel starring Hélio Oiticica, which has never been published outside of Brazil.

Gallery text about the exhibition that accompanied this publication:

Antonio Manuel (b. 1947) is one of the most important Brazilian artists of the 1960s and 1970s. Combining innovative and provocative artistic forms with a strong political undercurrent, Manuel’s use of media and body art, which at the time were emerging trends on the international scene, aimed to subvert and condemn the forces of repression, as well as challenge the arbitrary rules imposed by art institutions. Antonio Manuel: I Want to Act, Not Represent! will be the artist’s first solo show in the United States. The featured paintings, installations, films and photographs will highlight Manuel’s significant role in performance and post medium art. In addition, the exhibition will emphasize Manuel’s work as a powerful liberating force from political repression.

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