Five oil paintings arranged vertically. They were dismal.

Result #1

The work was hard to look at. The intensity of color was overpowering. The colors were ragged and metallic. They were impassive, indifferent to the intensity of the paintings. What a joy to see the paintings. These works, I thought, would be great. But they were just not good.

Result #2

Five oil paintings arranged vertically. They were dismal. The color and the brushwork were reminiscent of the collages that Hélio Oiticica and Alex Katz make. But Hélio Oiticica, with his scrawls, his carefully rendered lines, his black-and-white drawings, and his blue-gray brushstrokes, is the heart of the show. His work has an insistent dignity, a dignity that is not a product of the artists skill. In fact, he is an artist who knows how to use a brush to create a picture. Oiticica is one of the most important of the young Brazilian artists who have entered the field of figurative painting.His paintings are clearly allegories of the Brazilian national and economic history. They are also allegories of Brazilian history as a whole. The paintings are made from various elements: the crumpled paper; the color; the image of the head; the gesture of the hand; and the lines of the brush. The colors are often quite rich. The lines of the brush are often very beautiful. But the colors are so rich that they appear to have been drawn with a crayon, a very heavy paint. Oiticicas paintings are more sophisticated than most of the paintings in this show. He is very skilled at combining color, at combining gesture, at combining the lines of the brush. He uses paint to create a surface that has a strong, solid presence. Oiticica paints with the paint on the canvas. His surfaces are very rich, very rich. The color is rich. But the lines of the brush are very beautiful.The works in this exhibition were also shown in the gallery. Here too Oiticica is represented by a number of large paintings, including the massive three-part work entitled Bienal de São Paulo, 1986. In this work, Oiticica combines the contours of the Brazilian landscape with the lines of the Brazilian brush. The landscape is a series of small, but perfectly drawn, figures.

Result #3

Five oil paintings arranged vertically. They were dismal. They were dark, but also darker. But this was the place of death, the place of the end, the place where the world is dying.These paintings were made by placing a painted-over, scratched-in image of the body on a canvas, then applying a thick coat of acrylics to the surface. The result is a loose, distorted form, with a thick, frosty, almost opaque surface. It is a body with a head, a body that looks like it might be crushed under the weight of its own weight. It is a body that is a corpse, a body that is a house, and a body that is a coffin. The paintings are not about the dead, but about the house, and about the coffin.The paintings are about the living, but not in the manner of a painting. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective. The paintings are not about the individual, but about the collective.

Result #4

The colors were so dark, so heavy, that one couldnt help wondering if the paintings were merely the result of a poor deal. Still, it was worth it. The paintings were a kind of blessing, a way of saying, You know what you see. The paintings are what you see. If you dont like them, you can always go to another gallery. But if you like the paintings, you can always go to a museum. In the end, though, theres no point in going to the museum. The museum is not a place to remember, and the memories you have are not the memories of the museum. The museum is not a place to hold onto. The museum is not a place to keep. The museum is not a place to remember. The museum is not a place to be happy in.