Waltercio Caldas and Antonio Ballester Moreno selected for São Paulo Bienal

November 6, 2017

Antonio Ballester Moreno and Waltercio Caldas have been selected to participate in the 33rd São Paulo Bienal. In this next installment of the Bienal, titled Affective Affinities, chief curator Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro has elected to distribute curatorial decision-making in a more horizontal manner, selecting seven artists from different backgrounds, generations and art practices to each conceive a group show in which their work dialogues with that of their peers. 

This alternative approach questions the predominant curatorial model and sheds light on the way that artists articulate, understand and engage with their creative communities. As a result of this process, the Bienal will host seven different exhibitions curated by the following artists: Antonio Ballester Moreno, Waltercio Caldas, Sofia Borges, Alejandro Cesarco, Claudia Fontes, Mamma Andersson and Wura-Natasha Ogunj.

Created in 1962, the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo is located in Oscar Niemeyer's Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion, a building greatly emblematic of Brazilian Modern architecture. The institution began organizing the São Paulo Bienal exhibitions from its seventh edition, an activity formerly conceived and led by the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM-SP). With the primary mission to present and discuss contemporary art through its events, the Foundation has become one of the most influential international institutions promoting contemporary art, and its impact in visual arts in Brazil is wholly recognized. From its first edition in 1951, the Bienal de São Paulo has presented 67,000 artworks by 14,000 artists from 160 countries, and has attracted more than 8 million visitors.