Sérgio de Camargo

SÉRGIO DE CAMARGO (Rio de Janeiro, 1930 - 1990).
"Fold", 2005.
Construction on paper and cardboard.
Presents on the back label of the Fernando Pradilla Gallery (Madrid).
Signed and dated in the lower right area.
Measurements: 50 x 70 cm; 73 x 93 cm (frame).
Sérgio de Camargo was a Brazilian sculptor who was fundamental in the development of constructive art and international geometric abstraction in the 20th century. His work is characterized by the systematic exploration of light, volume and the modulation of surfaces based on repetitive structures that generate optical and spatial vibrations.
He began his artistic training at the Altamira Academy in Buenos Aires, where he studied with artists such as Emilio Pettoruti and Lucio Fontana, an experience that profoundly marked his understanding of form and space. He later furthered his studies in philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris, which contributed to the theoretical basis of his artistic research. During his travels through Europe in the 1940s he came into contact with key figures in modern sculpture such as Brâncuși, Jean Arp and Henri Laurens.
In the 1950s and 1960s he consolidated his own sculptural language, based on monochrome reliefs of great formal rigor. His works, constructed using cylindrical or prismatic modules, explore the relationship between order and variation, creating surfaces in which light becomes an active element of the composition. This research linked him closely to the Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel (GRAV), of which he was a member since 1963.
His international recognition was consolidated after receiving the International Sculpture Prize at the Paris Biennial (1963) and his participation in events such as the São Paulo Biennial and the Documenta in Kassel. Between 1965 and 1967 he collaborated with Oscar Niemeyer on a large structural wall for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brasilia, one of his most outstanding public interventions.
Sérgio de Camargo's work is present in important international collections, among them the Tate. His legacy places him as a key figure in the renewal of modern sculpture, especially for his ability to transform geometric repetition into a sensorial experience based on light, rhythm and the perception of space.