Paulo Roberto Leal

Paulo Roberto Leal emerged as a significant figure in the Brazilian art scene of the late 20th century.

Paulo Roberto Leal's Art Style

Emptiness, voids, interstices, and silence were significant concepts for Paulo Roberto Leal. His work "Armadura" (Armature), created in 1978, exemplifies this exploration. Leal meticulously cut a single canvas into fragments, which he then affixed onto another canvas, creating a grid with spaces between each module.

Leal's focus lay in materiality, but more importantly, in broadening the boundaries of painting, even amidst the rising tide of installation art in Brazil. A material frequently revisited by Leal was paper. In pieces like "Armagem 73/4" (Articulation 73/4), Leal arranged folded paper within transparent acrylic boxes, creating dynamic interplays of light and shadow that imbued his work with a sense of movement and drama. 

"Armagem," created in 1972, comprises layers of sturdy brown paper, stacked and curling inward, supported by a single nail in the wall. Leal's paper cocoons evoke both delicacy and strength, collapse and resilience, fragility and the potential for vital power. Through minimalistic gestures, the artist crafts an ephemeral and sensual ambiance, while subtly reminding us of Brazil's military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985.

In the art of Paulo Roberto Leal, the geometric influence of Neo-Concretism expanded to encompass more conceptual interpretations. For Leal, contemplating painting involved considering supports as surfaces. Thus, in "Entretela," crafted in 1976, the canvas embodies the painting itself—where the artist utilized diagonal strips of canvas to form lines (sewn instead of painted or scored) that delineate modular, monochromatic, and symmetrical spaces.