Selected Works 1978 - 2000

The practice of Hudinilson Jr. (1957 – 2013 São Paulo, Brazil) is protean in nature, having encompassed performance, activism, public actions and interventions as well as a myriad of discrete objects. Much of this work unfolds against the backdrop of Brazil's repressive military dictatorship which began in 1964 and, in 1968, imposed official state censorship over the media and other public platforms, exerting near monolithic control. This volatile atmosphere drives Hudinilson Jr. to exploit its fringes, undertaking guerrilla-like action under the cover of night, from defacing the city's abundant commercial advertisements to high-jacking its public monuments (with the collective 3NÓS3) to undermine their armored posturing. Amidst this milieu, the artist cultivates a sense of boundless formal experimentation, drawing from the city's thriving underground scene, queer nightlife as well as pockets of freedom afforded by art schools and museums. The latter proves particularly fruitful as it grants access to a Xerox copier, a technology not yet readily accessible to the general public. Beginning in 1977-78, Hudinilson Jr. begins exploring the expressive possibilities of xerography, using his body directly on the scanner bed. The resulting images blur the line between index and gesture, fluttering in and out of legibility as the body is cropped and reconfigured into abstraction. This provides a clear through line to a polymorphous vernacular that also includes assemblages, drawings, paintings, collages and artist's books – his ‘caderno de referência' – an ongoing project continued until his passing in 2013. These visual archives are less finished works than open-ended annotations that offer a glimpse into a rich, informal cosmology. This exhibition is realized with the gracious cooperation of Martins&Montero, São Paulo and Brussels.

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