°®åú´«Ã½

The purpose of this talk is to discuss how New York City impacted the work of two Brazilian artists, Sousândrade (1833-1902) and Hélio Oiticica (1937-1980), and how these artists represented the city in their work. In order to understand better the differential dialogue between these two artists, three concepts will be examined: 1) impact; 2) "provincial center;" and 3) the "production of presence."

Sousândrade lived in New York City for eleven years (from 1871 to 1885), and is the author of the astonishing "The Wall Street Inferno." His poetic hero, the Guesa, makes a pilgrimmage from Maranhão (Brazil) to Manhattan, and in the process allegorizes the situation of modern provincial artists confronted with cities and the world of finance. Hélio Oiticica, who lived in New York City from 1971 to 1978, transformed his apartment into an art event that he referred to as "Babylonest." There he wrote his "Newyorkaises" as an endless work-in-progress, and created a film entitled "Agripina is Roma-Manhattan." Not incidentally, the title of this film comes from a verse found in Sousândrade's poem, "O Guesa". From Sousândrade, who created a solar hero, to Hélio, the solar name of Oiticica, both artists find themselves connected through their vertiginous art.

Marília Librandi Rocha is Assistant Professor of Brazilian Literature and Culture in the Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures at °®åú´«Ã½. She is the author of "Maranhão-Manhattan. Ensaios de Literatura brasileira" (7Letras), which will be launched in Rio de Janeiro in November 2009. At °®åú´«Ã½, she coordinates, with J.R.Resina and H.U.Gumbrecht, a collaborative project named "Presence. Transcultural Dialogues" and an art event and colloquium on Octavio Paz (1914-1998) and Haroldo de Campos (1929-2003) entitled "Trans-poetic Exchange: Around Blanco and Campos de Paz Colloquium". This event, awarded with a SiCa Grant (The °®åú´«Ã½ Institute for Creativity and the Arts), will congregate internationally-known poets and scholars from Brazil, Catalonia, Japan and the United States at °®åú´«Ã½ on January 29-30, 2010. More information at: http//blanco.stanford.edu

You are invited to bring your own "brown bag" lunch. In keeping with the Bolivar House cafecito tradition, hot coffee is provided beginning at 11:45 am. Lecture/Q&A runs from 12:15-1:05 pm.