Radical Geometry
Modern Art of South America from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection
5 July - 28 September 2014
The Sackler Wing, Burlington House
Saturday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
£11.50 (without donation £10). Concessions available. Friends of the RA and under 16s go free.
Friends of the RA go free
From radical innovations in the use of colour and form to new materials like neon and interactive, kinetic sculpture, this exhibition reveals some of the most original art of the last 100 years.
The time: 1930s. The place: South America. The stage was set for a major innovation in art. Over the next 50 years, artists across five cities would pioneer a new visual language to express their deeply held beliefs about art and its power to change the world around them.
Radical Geometry brings together work from the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros by some of the great innovators of South American modern art, from Torres-García in Uruguay to Lygia Clark in Brazil, from Maldonado in Argentina to Gego in Venezuela. Inspired by European artists such as Mondrian and Kandinsky, their bold experiments with space, movement and colour radically transformed the relationship between art and viewer.
This is art that refuses to be contained by its own perimeter, art that ruptures the boundary between the object and the space around it and introduces dynamic forms to give the illusion of motion and volatility. You will see work that changes as you move around it, and “drawings without paper” that use negative space and shadow to create unique, fleeting compositions.
Book now to experience some of the most exciting and original abstract art ever made.
Saturday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
£11.50 (without donation £10). Concessions available. Friends of the RA and under 16s go free.
Friends of the RA go free
Supporters
In association with
2009-2017 Season supported by
Supported by
2009-2016 Season supported by JTI Supported by Christie’s
Reviews
"Quietly marvellous... Utterly transforms our understanding of 20th-century art"
The Telegraph
"A razor sharp encounter with great modern art"
The Guardian
"Mesmerising"
London Evening Standard
"Fizzes with energy and optimism"
Financial Times
Curator's Introduction
Watch an interview with co-curator Adrian Locke.
Thinking outside the frame: Buenos Aires in the 1940s and '50s
Visible ideas: São Paulo in the 1950s
Venezuela: Light and vibration, movement and colour
Gallery
Chromatic Rhythms II, 1947
Development of 14 Themes, 1951-52
Diagonal Function, 1952
Irregular Frame No. 2, 1946
Sphere, 1976
Red Monochrome, c. 1959
Construction in White and Black, 1938
Untitled (from the series Weaving), 1959
Metascheme, 1958
Talks and tours
Exhibition tours
45 minutes
Free with an exhibition ticket, no booking required.
Tuesday 2.30pm
Friday 7pm (8 July – 19 September)
Exhibition spotlight talks
10 minute talks on individual works from current exhibitions, free with exhibition entry.
Thursday 3pm
Handheld audio guide
Go at your own pace while discovering much more about the context and motivations behind the works on show, with commentary from the curator. You can pre-order your guide when booking tickets online. Book now
A work of art is not an object, it’s not a thing, it’s a proposal for mankind, a proposal for society.
Waldemar Cordeiro
Shop
The Radical Geometry exhibition catalogue depicts the challenging geometric abstractions that captured the optimism that swept across South American countries from the 1940s to the 1970s.
Inspired by our current Radical Geometry exhibition this beautiful blue necklace with ribbon detailing would make the perfect addition to any outfit.
This Radical Geometry inspired cup with bottom triangle design is not only practical but also stylish and would make the perfect addition to any kitchen.
Competition
Win a 9-day holiday to Brazil with Journey Latin America
To celebrate Radical Geometry, we’ve teamed up with Time Out to offer you the chance to win a dream holiday for two to Brazil courtesy of Journey Latin America.
If the mesmerising South American art on display in Radical Geometry leaves you longing to discover this beguiling continent for yourself, we have just the opportunity. Enter our competition now and you could find yourself experiencing the vivacious spirit of Brazil on a 9-day holiday visiting Rio de Janeiro, the colonial fishing village of Paratí and the beaches of Ilha Grande, where tropical forests sweep down to the golden shoreline.
Journey Latin America is the UK's No.1 travel specialist to Central and South America and has been channelling their knowledge, passion and expertise into creating award-winning holidays to every corner of the region for over 30 years.
Related articles
Gego: rediscovering an extraordinary artist
8 August 2014
A look inside 'Radical Geometry'
7 July 2014