Untiltled, 1994

Brazilian artist Lygia Pape was a sculptor, painter, performer, and filmmaker influential for her contributions to the Concrete and Neo-Concrete movements of the 1950s and 60s. Most of Pape’s work relied on geometrical abstractions and formations, with her sculptures and installations involving viewers’ physical participation. Her early works of painting and sculpture exhibited themes central to Concrete art, avoiding reference or allusion to any recognizable subject matter and instead aiming for objectivity and pure abstraction. With the focus being exploration and interaction with unassociated forms and colors, Pape’s work sought to challenge the sentimentality and subjectivity generally expected of art, thereby pushing conceptual boundaries and requiring more cerebral interaction from the viewer. Pioneering the Neo-Concrete movement, Lygia Pape was among the first to break from the rigidity of Concrete art while still keeping many of the same principles. With some of her works being politically charged, such as her videos and installations of the 1960s and 70s criticizing the Brazilian dictatorship, Pape was never afraid of challenging norms, using her art as a vessel for her commentary. Throughout her teaching career and later years, Lygia Pape continued to produce art integrating aesthetic elegance with intellectual challenges.