Events: Arizona - Phoenix - Scottsdale

Phoenix Art Museum hosts Past/Future/Present: Contemporary Brazilian Art from the Museum of Modern Art, São Paulo, opening Sept. 1, 2017. The exhibition will be the first major presentation of objects from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, São Paulo (MAM) in the U.S., and presents a rare panorama of the most innovative art produced in Brazil from the 1990s to the 2010s. 

Past/Future/Present counts among its objects the first-ever performance art piece in an exhibition at Phoenix Art Museum (to remain a surprise until opening day), work by an Academy-Award-nominated photographer, and a large-scale, collaborative installation that will be constructed using local labor and materials. On view through Dec. 31, Past/Future/Present will feature 70 artworks created by 59 artists in diverse media, including painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video, and performance.

At first glance, it may seem that the works in Past/Future/Present have little in common beyond artists of a common origin. The works range from small objects to giant installations, each unique in scope and subject matter. However, the exhibition reveals that there is much that binds these objects together conceptually. These pieces dispel stereotypes of a country often viewed through a lens of exoticism, eroticism, and violence, and the featured artists embrace the difficulties and opportunities that accompany art production in an era of globalization. Some thematic strands that tie the works together include an engagement with Brazilian history, social norms, indigenous mythologies, and national traditions in Brazilian art as well as global art trends.