Marcia Grostein (born c. 1949) Marcia Grostein is a Brazilian-American artist known for using various mediums across public art, sculpture, painting, video art, photography, and portable wearable art/jewelry. She was the first contemporary Brazilian artist to be acquired by the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

for the 20th Century Collection by the curator Lowery Sims. Interestingly, her public art works of Sky Drawings reflect the elongated necks of Modigliani. As a child she used to copy those necks sitting and watching her aunt Mary Kuperman paint. Grostein's visually dynamic and expressive style began to unfold. The Wild Form describes Grostein's work as a “rare and enriching possibility to liberate and humanize analysis”.

Biography

Marcia Grostein was born in Sāo Paulo, Brazil in 1949 and currently resides in New York. Her parents were of Jewish descent who immigrated to Brazil; her father was Polish and her mother was Russian. Grostein's family spread all around different parts of Latin America after WWI. She has exhibited her work worldwide. Her mentors include famous artists; among them–

Abstract Expressionist Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of th ...

painter

Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning (; ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter ...

and Pop Artist

James Rosenquist James Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advertising a ...

. Her relationships to these artists, and many others, helped her find her own place in the art scene. As Marcia's influences also pulled from minimalism and conceptual art, she experimented with various mediums. Marcia works in sculpture, painting, video, photography, and portable art/jewelry. After finishing her studies at the Royal College of Art in London in 1970, she returned to Brazil to enroll at Escola de Experimentação Artística Brasil Dois Pontos (Escola Brasil Two Dots), a center for artistic experimentation where Grostein developed her interest for American Art. In 1972, the precocious 23-year old had her first one-woman show of

papier mache Papier may refer to : *paper in French, Dutch, Afrikaans, Polish or German, word that can be found in the following expressions: **Papier-mâché, a construction material made of pieces of paper stuck together using a wet paste **Papier collé, a p ...

animals at the Inter-Design Gallery in São Paulo. In 1979 she interned for

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...

artist

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...

at his retrospective held at the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

in NYC. The following year, Grostein was represented by

Betty Parsons Gallery Betty Parsons (born Betty Bierne Pierson, January 31, 1900 – July 23, 1982) was an American artist, art dealer, and collector known for her early promotion of Abstract Expressionism. She is regarded as one of the most influential and dynamic f ...

–the site of many original Abstract Expressionists events of the 1950s. Her paintings were co-exhibited with Jackson Pollock's works in the gallery's final show. With a background in dance, Grostein's work is composed with meticulous attention to the physical qualities of her chosen medium. She creates dynamic visual choreographies that are both reductive and expressive at once. The most interesting thing about Grostein's work in the late 70's and early 80's was her response to the sexist imagery captured by

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is kn ...

and

de Kooning Kooning is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), Dutch American artist * Elaine de Kooning Elaine Marie Catherine de Kooning (, née Fried; March 12, 1918 – February 1, 1989) was an Abstract Exp ...

. Her paintings made “points about the relations between men and women” with opposing themes of liberation and oppression. Her sculptures can be understood in anthropomorphic terms. In the 94’ International São Paulo Bienal invoked the Wagnerian

Gesamtkunstwerk A ''Gesamtkunstwerk'' (, literally 'total artwork', translated as 'total work of art', 'ideal work of art', 'universal artwork', 'synthesis of the arts', 'comprehensive artwork', or 'all-embracing art form') is a work of art that makes use of al ...

, work of art as it involved all media genres fusing design, performance, painting and sculpture. The artist has exhibited her work widely at renowned museums and galleries in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Pieces from her prolific body of work are held in prominent public and private collections including those of the São Paulo Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro,

MoMA PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, the ...

, and

The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, among others. https://hutchinsonmodern.com/publications/70/

Education

Grostein studied in Sāo Paulo at IADE the Institute Design, Technology, and Communication (1963–1966) and continued at the

Royal Academy of Art The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

in London (1969–1970).

Artwork

The Sacred Garden of Eve (1989)

Colorful painting under the Sacred Garden collection (37" x 72") Description: A four-piece of colorful artwork of a garden curled up in different layers of color starting with circled flowers in the bottom to green grass at the top with a type of peacock in the middle. This artwork was based on a series Grostein had done based on imaginary gardens; she expressed all of this in another artwork named ''The Sacred Garden of Adam.'' This art series was based on oil paintings depicting these sacred gardens which are meant to be interpreted by the viewer. The painting is currently held in the collections of the

in New York City.

The Sacred Garden of Adam (1988)

Oil on canvas under the Sacred Garden collection (78" x 60") Description: The exhibit opens with “The Sacred Gardens,” more specifically with “The Sacred Garden of Adam,” of 1988 (we still do not know if it will be able to leave the Metropolitan Museum in New York). In it are synthesized three central entities: land, man and sea, where the emblematic figure of the monkey, a primordial animal, merges with the solidarity image of the artist at the center of her exterior and interior life, in the face of four possibilities of movement and of choice, but at the mercy of her own destiny, There virtuality is a plunge into the waters of time, a leap toward the trees and the flowers of the day, a walk to obscure lands of twisted tropical night vines and finally, rest in contemplation of the landscape. The invisible diagram which holds up the canvas is a mandala, an image of the world with the four cardinal points. In one way or another all the works in “The Sacred Garden” have this quality and it is for this reason that it is at the beginning of the mysteries of the journey. The monkey represents

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

. Grostein's evocation of

Eden Eden may refer to: * Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis Places and jurisdictions Canada * Eden, Ontario * Eden High School Middle East * Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric * Camp Eden, Iraq O ...

is no mere biblical allegory. Darwin has invaded the scene in the person of the monkey, an alleged evolutionary ancestor of humankind. And Freud haunts the symbolism of the flower as representing the first bloom of female sexuality which lies in wait, ready for the picking/fulfillment.

'They.Went.For.A.Swim'

Large High Sculpture Description: A sculpture taken on the beach and is a tall black and brown rustic circle. This was a series depicted on the beach with many different sculptures Grostein had made and photographed. In this series she had three different sculptures, and it was shown in many different views based on the photographs. Some of these sculptures had wave-like features as well as some of the other art was portrayed as the coral of the ocean.

Portable Art

Part of the jewelry collection Description: A piece of jewelry around the neck with a silver metal band and two clear plastic-like ornaments at the end with a small gold band at the end. This gives a description of art is found in everything and is shown with the different shapes along the jewelry.

Alice in Wonderland

Description: This piece is one of Grostein's photography photos of a young woman dancing ballet on a stage with an ankle-length pink fluffy dress. She has her back turned around with her body tilted a little and a spotlight shining on her with a water-like background. This artwork is part of series of a dance performance from a young woman dancing and showing her different stance of each move and photograph shown. The photographs have a very depicted view of the dancer with the dim lights shown to portray her focus on the artist themselves during her performance.

Sky drawings: sǎo paulo biennial

Large String-Like Shapes. Description: This is a set of artwork of long different shaped metal strips reaching the sky and the photographs are angled towards the sky. This angled shows the shapes angled all above the sky and bringing the sky drawing to life. Sky Drawings was an artwork series depicted on many different countries in showing strips of art in the sky. This artwork was shown as a public form of art showing the nature from the background of these different countries. The art was merely similar, but the scenery was shown to give it more meaning depending on the time of day as well as the locations of where this series took place.

Exhibitions

2021 Photography exhibition, Heritage Brazil, Southampton NY 2019 Brighton Beach Project, NAC National Academy of Art, New York, New York 2019 Luce del Pensiero, Projetto Guzzini, curated by Lucrezia de Domizio Durini, Milano, Italy 2018 Desver a Arte, Galeria Kogan Amaro, São Paulo, Brazil 2018 O Tridimencional na Coleção Marcos Amaro, Fundação Marcos Amaro, São Paulo, Brazil 2017 Still Moment, Museum of Contemporary Art Sorocaba, Sorocaba, Brazil 2016 Biennale Arte & Industria Labin, Istria, Croatia 2015 FORUM 5, Bolognano, Italy 2015 Mykonos Biennale, Mykonos, Greece 2014 Gilded Holiday, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, New York 2014 Light Shop, Paul Kasmin Gallery, ABMB Miami 2014 Functional Sculpture, DDC, New York, New York 2013 Choreography, Museum of Contemporary Art Sorocaba, Sorocaba, Brazil 2013 FIVAC (5th International Video Art Festival), Camagüey, Cuba 2012 Saint Sebastian from Renaissance to the Present, Edelman Arts, New York, New York, and Miami, Florida 2012 Moss: Dialogues between Art and Design, Philips de Pury, New York, New York 2010 Cacophony, Zone: Contemporary Art, New York, New York 2010 Festival Internacional de Video Arte, Quito, Ecuador 2010 Disciplined + Spontaneity, Zone: Contemporary Art, New York, New York 2009 Public Art Installation, Holotopia Academy, Amalfi Coast, Italy 2009 Video Abierto, Reina Sophia Museum, Murcia, Spain 2009 X Bienal de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador 2009 Crossing Borders, Bjorn Ressle Gallery, New York, New York 2008 Winter Salon: Works on Paper, Bjorn Ressle Gallery, New York, New York 2008 Pinta, Leon Tovar Gallery, New York, New York 2008 It's Not Easy, Exit Art, New York, New York 2008 Diva: Media Art, Bjorn Ressle Gallery, New York, New York 2008 Informed by Function, Lehman College Art Gallery, New York, New York 2008 The Arts in Cyberspace and Public Space on Seven Continents, Streaming Museum, Melbourne, Australia 2007 Auto-Retrato do Brasil, Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2007 CHROMA 9 Audio Visual Festival, Guadalajara, Mexico 2007 Jewelry from Picasso to Kenny Scharff, Neuhoff Edelman Gallery, New York, New York 2007 PAM @ CAM: Perpetual Art Machine, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, New York 2006 Brazilian Artists, Espasso, New York, New York 2006 Food Show: The Hungry Eye, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, New York 2006 Transparencias, Galeria Eduardo H. Fernandes, São Paulo, Brazil 2006 Codes of Culture: Video Art from 7 Continents, White Cube, Buenos Aires Argentina 2005 Video Performance in Collaboration with Irving Raygoza, Guadalajara, Mexico 2005 Curious and Furious, Vernon Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic 2005 Where Fashion Meets Art, Issey Miyake, New York 2005 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Remy Toledo Gallery, New York, New York 2005 Women, Anita Friedman Gallery, New York, New York 2004 Paris Underground Film Festival Piff 2nd Edition, Paris, France 2004 Arte Contemporanea Brasileira nas Coleções do Museu de Arte Moderna, Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2004 Surveille Sortie, Magnetic Laboratorium, Volume, Brooklyn, New York 2003 Public Art Piece for Corredor Berrini, São Paulo, Brazil 2003 SX Street: A New Event, Collaboration with Magnetic Laboratorium, New York, 2002 Art for Play, Playground for Projeto Anchieta, São Paulo, Brazil 2000 Still Moment, Paulina Kolczinska Fine Art, New York, New York 1999 Sky Drawing Sculpture, Site Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico 1999 II Biennial Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil 1999 Museum at Open Sky, Berrine Corredor, São Paulo, Brazil 1999 Drawings, Baltic Gallery, Warsaw, Poland 1998 Feminine Plural, Museo de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1998 Gay McIntyre Gallery, New York 1996 Utopia, Museu Casa das Rosas, São Paulo, Brazil 1996 By the Sea, Fatohui Cramer Gallery, East Hampton, New York 1996 The Sculpture Center, New York, New York 1995 Integration/ Disintegration, Dahn Gallery, New York, New York 1994 The Wild Form: 20 Year Survey, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, and Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1995) 1994 Galeria de Arte Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo, Brazil 1994 XXII Bienal International de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 1994 Small Formats in Latin America, Luigi Marrozini Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico 1993 Brazil: Images of the 80s and 90s, Museum of the Americas, Washington DC 1993 Sergio Fadel Collection, Museu Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1993 Retratos e Autoretratos, na coleção de Gilberto Chateaubriand- Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1993 Lingua Latina est Regina, Stux Gallery, New York, New York 1993 Primavera Cultural, Galeria de Arte Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo, Brazil 1991 Body and Soul, Philippe Staib Gallery, New York, New York 1991 Sacred Garden, Museo de Arte Americano de Maldonado, Punta del Este, Uruguay 1991 Chair Installation, Tilden-Foley Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana 1990 A Cor na Arte Brasileira, Museu da Imagem e do Som de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 1989 Birds into the Night, Tilden-Foley Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana 1989 Tropical Rain Forest, curated by Lucy Lippard, Lowery Sims, and Steven Westfall New York, New York 1989 Don't Bungle the Jungle, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, New York 1988 Homage to Balanchine: Chair Sculpture Installation, Nadia Bassanese Studio D’Arte Gallery, Trieste, Italy 1988 Birds into the Night, Venice Biennial, Academia and Museu Dicesano di Sant Apollonia, Venice, Italy 1987 Latin American Artists in New York Since 1970, Blanton Museum of art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 1987 Art against AIDS, Jason McCoy Gallery, New York, New York 1987 XIX Bienal International de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 1986 Three Artists, Jason McCoy Gallery, New York, New York 1986 II Biennial de Havana, Havana, Cuba 1985 Today's Art of Brazil, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan 1984 I Biennial de Havana, Havana, Cuba 1984 Contemporary Latin American Artists, The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia 1984 New Forms of Figuration, Americas Society, New York, New York 1984 East Village Art in Berlin: Romance and Catastrophe, Zellermayer Gallery, Berlin, Germany 1984 Sex, Cable Gallery, New York, New York 1984 A More Store, Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, New York 1984 Winter Group Show, Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, New York 1984 New Talent, Bonlow Gallery, New York, New York 1983 Grandes Telas, Galeria São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 1983 Recent Paintings, Betty Parsons, New York, New York 1983 Homage to Betty Parsons: Marcia Grostein and Jackson Pollock, Betty Parsons Gallery, New York 1983 Women of the Americas: Emerging Perspectives, Americas Society, New York, New York 1982 Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, New York 1982 Installation/set for William Dunas choreography, MoMA/P.S.1, New York, New York * 1988: Academia and Museo Dioscano d'Arte Sacra (Venice, Italy) * 1985: 19 Biennal (Sāo Paulo, Brazil) "7 Continents" * 1983: Betty Parsons Gallery, (New York) * 1981: Institute for Art and Urban Resources, P.S.1, (L.I. City, New York) Paulo Figueredo Gallery, (Sāo Paulo, Brazil) Galeria (Sāo Paulo, Brazil) * 1987: 19 Biennial (Sāo Paulo, Brazil) Modern Art Museum, (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil): "Entre Dois Seculos" Jason McCoy Gallery, (New York): "Art against Aids" Museum of the University of Texas, Austin, Texas * 1986: Cooper HewittMuseum and Barney's, New York: "The Establishment of the Statue of Liberty" Second Cuban Biennial, Havana, Cuba * 1981: Sutton Gallery, New York: "One of Each" Landfall Gallery, Chicago: "Artists Chairs" Sutton Gallery, New York, "Summer Selections" * 1973: Brussel's Museum, Belgium: Brazilian Sculpture Exhibition

Set design commissions

* 1982: Set Design for William Dunas production of "Paranarrative" by Borges, Institute for Art and Urban Resources, P.S.1, L.I.C., New York * 1973: Set Design for the Sāo Paulo production of "Sleuth" * 1972: Sculpture for the D.P.Z. Advertising Co. for the film "Rhodia" Cannes Film Festival prize

Collections

Grostein's work is displayed in many art galleries around the country The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, and also spread in other different galleries. She was the first Brazilian artist whose work was purchased from a high museum like the Metropolitan Museum.

Awards

She was awarded a prize in 1972 at the Cannes Film Festival for the film ''Rodhia''.

References

* Liebmann, Lisa, et al. ''Birds in Spirit: Marcia Grostein, Hunt Slonem: June 18-July 18, 1988, Venezia, Museo Diocesano Di Sant'Apollonia, Castello 4312''. Academia, 1988. Leirner, Sheila, and Brooks Adams. Marcia Grostein: Forma Selvagem: 20 Anos De Percurso. Museu De Arte De São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, 1994. Sims, Lowery Stokes, and Mario H. Gradowczyk. Marcia Grostein: "Sacred Gardens": January 1991: Museum of American Art of Maldonado. Museo De Arte Americano De Maldonado, 1991.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grostein, Marcia People from São Paulo 1940s births Living people Brazilian artists