Yve-Alain Bois Recalls Lygia Clark as Mentor in 1968 Paris

French art historian and curator Yve-Alain Bois, now a professor at Princeton, identifies Brazilian artist Lygia Clark as a key mentor alongside Mexican Mathias Goeritz. In a personal essay for the book published by Pinakotheke Cultural, Bois recounts his first intense encounter with Clark at age 16 in the politically charged Paris of 1968. The text, a reduced version published by arte!brasileiros, is based on his memories of meeting Latin American artists in Paris during the late 1960s, a period when post-colonialism was nascent. He met Clark through the avant-garde magazine Robho, edited by critic Jean Clay, who first showed him photos of her work. Their friendship began after the dramatic summer of 1968, when he visited her at the Cité des Arts. Clark demonstrated works like "Diálogo de mãos" (1966), created with Hélio Oiticica, and "Pedra e ar" (1966), transforming his understanding of phenomenological art. She discussed the early Neoconcrete movement in Brazil and its critique of geometric abstraction, influenced by Max Bill. Their correspondence continued until Bois moved to Paris in 1971, seeing her almost daily until her return to Brazil in 1976.