Cassio Michalany

Cassio Michalany’s work uses drawings, paintings and wood reliefs as the primary media for fundamentally pictorial experiments with color, luminosity, matter and the relationship between these elements. Derived from a singular palette, color in the artist’s work is treated as matter, whose approximation and coexistence result in varied perceptual structures that also address the boundaries between painting and object.

In a reverse direction to that of the serialization of objects, the repetition in Michalany’s work calls for a prolonged and meticulous observation of the underlying logic of their subtle chromatic variations —or permutations— which, in turn, reverberate contemporary social relations and the debates posed by geometric constructivism and minimalism.

Radically committed to his vocabulary, Cassio Michalany’s contribution to the art landscape was highlighted by his retrospective exhibition at the Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, in 2003 and by the books Cassio Michalany: pinturas (2001), written by Rodrigo Naves, and Como anda a cor: trabalhos recentes de Cassio Michalany (2005), with text by Tiago Mesquita.

Among his major solo exhibitions are Pinturas: Permutações de cor, at Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo, in 2011; Pintura sobre parede, at Centro Maria Antonia, São Paulo, in 2004; as well as historic exhibitions held at Centro Cultural São Paulo in 1999 and 1992.

Notable group exhibitions include the 19th Bienal de São Paulo, in 1987; the 17th and 20th editions of Panorama da Arte Atual Brasileira, at the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, in 1986 and 1989, respectively; O Que Faz Você Agora Geração 60?, at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea da USP, São Paulo, in 1991 and the Bienal Brasil Século XX, at the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, in 1994.

Cassio Michalany began his artistic career in the 1960s. He graduated in Architecture from the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo (FAU/USP) in 1973 and studied drawing with Luiz Paulo Baravelli and Frederico Nasser between 1967 and 1968. He won the acquisition prize at the 4th Jovem Arte Contemporânea do Museu de Arte Contemporânea, in 1970, and at the 7th Salão Paulista de Arte Contemporânea, in 1976.

His works are featured in the collections of the Museu de Arte Brasileira da Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado — MAB—FAAP; Pinacoteca de São Paulo; Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo — MAC—USP; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo — MAM—SP.