Aldemir Martins' Intimate Drawing Practice Celebrated in São Paulo Exhibition

Aldemir Martins, who received the top prize at the 1956 Venice Biennale, is the subject of a focused exhibition at Choque Cultural in São Paulo. Curated by his daughter Mariana Pabst Martins, the show titled 'Aldemir em casa' presents sketches, study notebooks, drawings on paper, and an ink painting-drawing on canvas, primarily from 1948 to 1968. The curator aimed to illuminate her father's personality through the precision and fluidity of his gesture, his intimacy with pen and brush, and the rigor of his thought. The exhibition includes early cat sketches, a notebook from his time living in Rome, portraits of his wife Cora at home, and a wall of seven drawings forming a chronological timeline of his daughter. Martins drew daily in domestic settings, and the show's core presents drawing in its diverse approaches, from complex works to minimal sketches, with no hierarchy between them. The gallery will be closed from December 23 to January 10. The exhibition runs until January 20.