Ivan Serpa and Yuli Yamagata exhibitions in São Paulo explore monstrous figuration across generations

Two exhibitions in São Paulo reveal Brazilian artists grappling with anxiety through monstrous imagery. Ivan Serpa's survey 'The Expression of Concrete' at CCBB São Paulo (February 3–April 12) featured over 200 works, moving beyond his geometric abstraction to include nightmarish figuration from the 1960s. His 'Women and Animals' series (1965) depicts naked women consumed by otherworldly creatures, reflecting Brazil's dictatorship era. Serpa, founder of Grupo Frente in 1954 and mentor to Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, and Lygia Pape, shifted styles after a European trip studying Picasso, Max Ernst, and Francis Bacon. His earlier geometric works like 'Faixas em ritmo resultante' (1956) contrast with later monstrous paintings that incorporate local tropical feverishness seen in Tarsila do Amaral and Oswald de Andrade. Yuli Yamagata's solo show 'Insônia' at Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel (April 24–May 29) presented 18 textile sculptures exploring similar anxiety. Works like 'Cyborg Nascendo' (2021) feature ambiguous figures under tie-dye skies, referencing David Lynch and Japanese manga. 'Polvo Nadando' shows a giant fabric octopus lunging from velvet, while 'Pudim' includes a corn cob hanging from green resin. Both exhibitions connect political repression and pandemic anxiety to psychological trauma invading the subconscious.