Construction Deconstruction Reconstruction presents Brazilian modernist photography through the prism of the production of the Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante (FCCB), an amateur photography club in São Paulo that stood out as a cradle of innovative practices and research. It revolutionized Brazilian photography, enabling its globalization and institutionalization. Founded in 1939, the group evolved during a period noted for the emergence of international movements and trends characteristic of Brazilian culture, such as Concrete and Neo-Concrete Art, Cinema Novo and Bossa Nova. The Bandeirantes embraced plural forms of photography, from conventional practice to the use of photograms, photomontages, and other interventions on reproductions and negatives, renewing ways of seeing and experiencing the city in full transition.

The exhibition gathers thirty-three photographers from different backgrounds. The works of Geraldo de Barros, German Lorca, Thomaz Farkas, José Oiticica Filho, Marcel Giró and Gertrudes Altschul stand alongside those of the pioneers of Brazilian Neo-Concrete art, who share a similar visual language, such as Lygia Clark, Lygia Pape and Hélio Oiticica.

With a title inspired by the concrete poetry practiced in Brazil at the time, Construction Deconstruction Reconstruction denote three dimensions of modernity present in the exhibition. These facets disclose all the peculiarities of the modernist experience of the FCCB, revealing its paradoxes and its crucial place in the vast international network of photo clubs, while at the same time fostering a critical reflection on the imaginary of modern Brazil and the contradictions of its societal project.

Reflecting on the significant output of the Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante, Construction Deconstruction Reconstruction underscores its prominence: While recognized and established in Latin America, the São Paulo School of Photography [Escola Paulista] remains little known internationally. In this new unprecedented perspective, the exhibition redraws the contours of the history of modern photography and its references.

Helouise Costa and Marcella Legrand Marer

Julio Agostinelli (1919), Chico Albuquerque (1917–2000), Gertrudes Altschul (1904–1962), Eduardo Ayrosa (1922–n.d.), João Bizarro da Nave Filho (1908–n.d.), Alice Brill (1920–2013), André Carneiro (1922–2014), Dulce Carneiro (1929–2018), Lygia Clark (1920-1988), Geraldo de Barros (1923–1998), Eduardo Enfeldt (1937–2004), Thomaz Farkas (1924–2011), Ivo Ferreira da Silva (1911­–1986), Mário Fiori (1908–n.d.), Gaspar Gasparian (1899–1966), Marcel Giró (1912–2011), Palmira Giró (Puig) (1912–1978), Kazuo Kawahara (1905–n.d.), Nelson Kojranski (1927–2015), German Lorca (1922–2021), Ademar Manarini (1920–1989), Roberto Marconato (1932–n.d.), Casimiro Mello (1916–n.d.), Barbara Mors (1925–n.d.), Hélio Oiticica (1937–1980), José Oiticica Filho (1906–1964), Lygia Pape (1927-2004), Georges Radó (1907-1998), Antonio da Silva Victor (n.d.), Alberto Siuffi (1927–n.d.), Eduardo Salvatore (1914–2006), Nair Gisella Sgterenyi (1930–n.d.), Paulo Suzuki Hide (1925–n.d.), Rubens Teixeira Scavone (1925–2007), José Yalenti (1895–1967) and Roberto Yoshida (1911–1978).