The installation reinterprets display structures originally designed by Italian-Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi in 1968 for the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art. After encountering some of these pieces stored at Sesc Pompéia, the artist reflects on how Bo Bardi’s design has transformed in meaning over the decades, culminating in its reincorporation by the museum in 2015.
These brutalist structures have long been the subject of disputes, marked by political and ideological overtones among the museum’s directors. Bo Bardi’s radical approach challenged the traditional, somewhat authoritarian function of walls by introducing self-standing, modular structures made of glass and concrete, where paintings seemed to float in the air. This innovative display encouraged visitors to navigate through the artworks freely, creating personal readings within the collection.
Following Lina Bo Bardi’s death in 1992, the museum chose to replace her structures with conventional white plasterboard walls, considering the display’s lack of spatial orientation incompatible with its didactic goals at the time. Concerns about material deterioration in the tropical climate were also cited. However, these changes signal a conservative shift in the museum’s approach during the 1990s. It wasn’t until 2015 that a new curatorial team chose to restore Bo Bardi’s original design for the painting collection.
The São Paulo Museum of Modern Art’s remake aligns with a recent movement in contemporary art toward re-enacting radical modernism; for instance, the landmark exhibition 'When Attitudes Become Form' was re-staged two years prior at the Venice Biennale. Daniel Frota de Abreu’s installation examines the layers of time embedded in Bo Bardi’s design, posing the question: can radical ideas truly be restaged? What can these structures reveal about the shift from institutional critique to institutional tradition?
