Abraham Palatnik (Born in Natal, RN, 1928). Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro.
Alongside names such as Malina, Schöefer and Healey, Abraham Palatnik is a pioneer of art and technology on the international scene. His first kinechromatic device, Azul e roxo em primeiro movimento (Blue and purple in first movement), caused quite a bang in the traditional conventions related to artistic supports discussed by the selection board for the 1st São Paulo Biennial, in 1951. Palatnik’s disconcerting piece was included in the Biennial and had a big impact among international critics, being awarded a mention of honour. “The true art of the future”, as Mário Pedrosa underlined in a text in the Tribuna da Imprensa, in that same year.
Settled in Rio and, at the time, connected to artists such as Ivan Serpa, Almir Mavinger and Renina Katz, he had important experiences at the Engenho de Dentro Psychiatric Hospital in the late 1940s, which led him to give up painting.
The artist continued to participate in Biennials – the 32nd Venice Biennial, in 1964, alongside Mavignier, Volpi, Weissmann and others; several important collective exhibitions, such as the Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art, in 1998 (today belonging to the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, USA); and the very first edition of the Mercosur Biennial, a year earlier.
Alongside names such as Malina, Schöefer and Healey, Abraham Palatnik is a pioneer of art and technology on the international scene. His first kinechromatic device, Azul e roxo em primeiro movimento (Blue and purple in first movement), caused quite a bang in the traditional conventions related to artistic supports discussed by the selection board for the 1st São Paulo Biennial, in 1951. Palatnik’s disconcerting piece was included in the Biennial and had a big impact among international critics, being awarded a mention of honour. “The true art of the future”, as Mário Pedrosa underlined in a text in the Tribuna da Imprensa, in that same year.
Settled in Rio and, at the time, connected to artists such as Ivan Serpa, Almir Mavinger and Renina Katz, he had important experiences at the Engenho de Dentro Psychiatric Hospital in the late 1940s, which led him to give up painting.
The artist continued to participate in Biennials – the 32nd Venice Biennial, in 1964, alongside Mavignier, Volpi, Weissmann and others; several important collective exhibitions, such as the Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art, in 1998 (today belonging to the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, USA); and the very first edition of the Mercosur Biennial, a year earlier.
