Marcelo Cidade

The work is a reference to the strong American influence during the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985). In his work Cidade cites American minimalist artist Frank Stella’s series "The Black Paintings", which was exhibited at the Baltimore Museum in the early 1970s.

In the late 1970s, during the dictatorship in Brazil, American minimalism arrived in the country through different cultural means (theater, art, cinema, music, etc.) as a response to perceived communism in the country. To block this possible political outcome, the United States instituted Minimalism in Brazil through several fields of culture: American philanthropist David Rockefeller donated artworks by the artist Alexander Calder through MAM Rio de Janeiro to create a minimalist collection in the Brazil; Walt Disney characters like Zé Carioca appeared, as well as stars like Carmen Miranda. In music, Bossa Nova took the stage as a sophisticated genre (mainly because of the absence of politics subjects in their lyrics).

In Brazil assima de tudo, Marcelo Cidade makes a strong statement regarding the dictatorship of the last century and the strengthening of militarism in Brazil today, while elements such as the Coca Cola bottle allude to the still present American influence in today’s culture.