PRESENTS THE EXHIBITION
É pau / É pedra - Sergio / Camargo
Chronology
1930
Sergio Camargo is born on April 8 in Rio de Janeiro, the son of Christovam Torres de Camargo from São Paulo and the Argentinian Maria Campomar, and the grandson of industrialist Juan Campomar, owner of the Argentine textile company Campomar S.A.
1946
At the age of 16, Camargo attends the Altamira Academy in Buenos Aires, where he takes classes with artists Emilio Pettoruti and Lucio Fontana. The experience inspires him to devote himself to the visual arts and give up succeeding in the family business, a radical choice that would shape his entire life.
1949-1950
He travels with his parents to Paris for a season abroad. Fascinated by the city's postwar cultural effervescence, Sérgio decides not to return to Brazil with his family.
He stays in Paris and enrolls in the philosophy program at the Sorbonne, where he takes classes with the philosopher Gaston Bachelard.
He also comes into contact with the works of Hans Arp and Georges Vantongerloo and begins visiting the studio of Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, an experience that leaves a deep impression on him.
Marries Marie Louise Berthodin.
1951
He lives between France and Brazil, where Cristóvão, his first child with Marie-Louise Berthodin, is born.
1954
Back in Brazil, he takes part in the 3rd National Salon of Modern Art.
He begins producing figurative sculptures of female nudes, influenced by the work of Henri Laurens.
That same year, he travels to the People's Republic of China in an official capacity, as part of the first group of young people invited by the Chinese government.
Carlos, his second child with Marie-Louise Berthodin, is born.
1955
He takes part in the 4th National Salon of Modern Art and the 3rd São Paulo Biennial.
1956
He establishes the GEA Gallery, with his brother Rubens, the pioneering art gallery in Rio de Janeiro, which opens with a solo exhibition by Frans Krajcberg. In the following years, the space showcases works by artists he admired, such as Alfredo Volpi, Iberê Camargo, Ivan Serpa, Maria Leontina, Milton Dacosta, Oswaldo Goeldi, and Renina Katz.
1957
He takes part in the 4th São Paulo Biennial.
He also participates in the group exhibition “Arte Moderno en Brasil,” organized by the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro and presented in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru.
1960
He takes part in the 2nd Inter-American Biennial in Mexico.
1961
He settles once again in Paris, where he remains until 1974. During this period, he develops a close relationship with the Latin American group based in Paris, especially Jesús Rafael Soto, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Arthur Piza and Alfredo Guzmán.
He experiments with plaster in search of a new creative method, molding it with his fingers or brushes to generate forms that serve as the basis for the molds used in producing bronze-cast sculptures.
1963
He begins producing his reliefs, marking a break from his earlier work. In these pieces, he starts to explore the poetic potential of the cylinder. With this series, he is awarded the International Sculpture Prize at the 3rd Paris Biennial.
1964
Homenagem a Brancusi and Torre Modulada are made at Alfredo Soldani's studio in Italy.
In December, he has a solo exhibition at Signals Gallery in London, a space dedicated to experimental art.
The BBC produces the film Kinetic Art: Works by Soto, Camargo and Takis.
1965
He is awarded the Best National Sculptor Award at the 8th São Paulo International Biennial.
He is invited to create the Structural Wall for the Itamaraty Palace in Brasília.
London's Tate Gallery acquires his work Grand relief fendu nº. 34/4/74.
A documentary produced by NBC about the exhibition Soundings Two, held at Signals Gallery, is broadcast in the United States and Canada.
He meets Aspásia Brasileiro Alcântara, a sociologist and student activist, and a friend of his sister Sonia. They begin living together in Paris in 1967.
1966
He presents 22 works in a special room at the 33rd Venice Biennale.
Signals Gallery publishes a monograph dedicated to the artist, featuring a text by Guy Brett.
He separates from Marie-Louise.
1968
His 16-year-old son, Cristóvão, develops severe schizophrenia.
He begins living in Paris with Aspásia Brasileiro Alcântara, a sociologist and student activist, and a friend of his sister Sonia.
1968
He has solo exhibitions in Switzerland, England, Italy, and Germany. A smaller version of Homenagem a Brancusi becomes part of the permanent collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.
He takes part in the 4th Documenta in Kassel, Germany.
In France, he exhibits the work Torre Modulada, which the following year would be permanently installed at the Musée des Sables.
He creates a triptych for the Banco do Brasil agency in New York.
1969
He holds a solo exhibition in New York, featuring a text by Mário Pedrosa translated into English by Hélio Oiticica and Guy Brett.
1970
He creates the “trombas", larger cylindrical forms that usually appear in pairs.
He takes part in the 2nd Coltejer Art Biennial in Colombia and the 8th Biennale Internationale de Menton in France.
1971
Camargo begins to devote himself more intensely to working in marble. After developing the prototypes, the sculptures are executed at his studio in Massa, Italy.
He marries Aspásia Brasileiro Alcântara in Paris, and their first daughter, Maria, is born, with artist Lygia Clark as her godmother.
1972
He donates Homenagem a Brancusi to the new Museo de Arte Moderno Jesús Soto in Venezuela.
1973
He installs marble sculptures at the entrance of the Collège d'Enseignement Technique in France.
He takes part in the 7th Biennale Internazionale di Scultura in Carrara.
1974
He holds in London his first solo exhibition dedicated entirely to marble works and also presents his pieces in Norway and Mexico.
He installs the sculpture Homenagem a Brancusi on the esplanade of the Faculty of Medicine in Bordeaux, France.
During this period, he moves with his family to Rio de Janeiro and begins the construction of his studio in Jacarepaguá, designed by architect José Zanine Caldas.
Back in Brazil, Inês Alcântara de Camargo, the couple's second daughter, is born but passes away three months later.
1975
He becomes part of a group of artists and critics, including Ronaldo Brito, Iole de Freitas, José Resende, Tunga, and Waltercio Caldas, with whom he establishes a fertile environment for discussion and reflection on art, one that would continue throughout his life.
His brother, Rubens Campomar de Camargo, dies at the age of 43. The loss, deeply painful, has a lasting impact on the artist in the years that follow.
The family moves to the estate in Jacarepaguá, next to his studio, into a house also designed by Zanine.
1977
Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo acquires a sculpture and a relief by Camargo and commissions a marble column intended for the collection of the future Museo Tamayo in Mexico City.
1978
He takes part in the group exhibition “50 Years of Sculpture” in Rio de Janeiro.
Irene, his third daughter with Aspásia, is born.
1979
He installs a marble sculpture in Praça da Sé to commemorate the anniversary of the city of São Paulo.
He takes part in the 15th São Paulo International Biennial, in a special room dedicated to artists who had been awarded in previous editions.
His father, Cristovam de Camargo, better known as Tito, passes away.
1980
The President of Mexico receives a sculpture by Sérgio Camargo during an official visit to Brazil.
He takes part in the inaugural exhibition of Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud, in São Paulo.
He holds a solo exhibition at MASP, the São Paulo Museum of Art, which is chosen as the best retrospective of the year by APCA, the São Paulo Association of Art Critics.
1981
His daughter, Irene, is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
1982
He represents Brazil at the 41st Venice Biennale.
He moves with his family to a penthouse apartment in Copacabana, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, where he lives until his death.
His studio remains at the estate in Jacarepaguá, which becomes the family’s weekend home.
1983
His mother, Maria Campomar de Camargo, better known as Titi, passes away.
1984
He begins to explore pyramidal shapes.
1986
He completes the work Muro, a monumental concrete wall measuring 420 m² and weighing 163 tons, installed at the Itaú Business Center in São Paulo.
He divorces from his second wife, Aspásia Camargo.
1987
Cacá Silveira directs the film A Dança das Formas for TVE Rio de Janeiro.
1988
In his work, ovoid forms begin to appear, featuring longitudinal or circular incisions carved in Carrara and noir-belge marble.
1989
He takes part in the 20th São Paulo International Biennial.
1990
He passes away prematurely on December 20, at the age of sixty, from liver cirrhosis. The final stage of his life is marked by personal losses and family illnesses. His body is laid in state at the Paço Imperial in Rio de Janeiro.
Despite his early passing, he left behind a prolific and original body of work. He was one of the first Brazilian artists to achieve international recognition and helped pave the way for Brazilian contemporary art abroad.
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