Mostra de Arte da Juventude (MAJ)

The Mostra de Arte da Juventude (MAJ – Youth Art Show), an initiative held by Sesc São Paulo at its unit in Ribeirão Preto, a municipality located in the interior of São Paulo State, Brazil, has been mapping and activating the formation of more than 400 artists for exactly 30 years. Initially aimed at university students, the show has forged a closer bond connecting youths and students with the local Sesc’s cultural agenda. Distant from the cultural apparatuses concentrated in the state capital, MAJ has become not only a stage for artists to gain visibility and legitimation for their work, but also a contact point between them and the institutional logic.

Besides maintaining its interest in encouraging emerging production, the Mostra de Arte da Juventude bet on its own structure and continuity, developing and upgrading its curatorial accompaniment, production, setup, documentation and awards. Due to this competency, the event has attracted the attention of an increasing number of artists, with signups from various regions throughout Brazil. In light of the slew of participants who have taken part in the MAJ, it should be noted that previous participants of the event who have gone on to become currently active and recognized names in the art circuit include Alex Benedito dos Santos, André Costa, Marcelo Moscheta, Nilton de Oliveira Campos, Renato Bolelli Rebouças and Sofia Borges.

The current edition, featuring 17 artists, is being curated by Ana Roman and Marcelo Amorim, who also served on the selection team, together with Juliana Okuda Campaneli. In the format of a juried exhibition, the curatorial proposal emphasized the selection of artists with experimental and innovative research in regard to their formal solutions or approach to the themes presented. And this has given rise to various debates concerning issues linked to geopolitics, temporality, the need for watchfulness, the fragmentation or distortion of the subject, and notions of heroism and salvation.

For example, Vicente Lima points to the historical image of Brazilian precariousness, problematizing the configuration of a social body waiting for a savior and its own redemption. In his work Capitão Brasil [Captain Brazil] the name of a possible Brazilian superhero is written in golden letters on a broken corrugated asbestos sheet[JN1]. Toxic and cheap, asbestos sheeting is the material most often found on the roofs of small, low-income houses all over Brazil. Also present in the show, Carolina Marostica extracts material from the commonplace world to re-present it as a new visual body. The artist uses plastic to create hybrid and voluminous beings, in which natural, organic and inorganic matter coexist, configuring improbable and formless masses. Lucas Naganuma, on the other hand, proposes a revision of our conceptions of temporality and updating. The painstakingly constructed images in his metal engravings refer to the traditional techniques and trades, while pointing to the progressivism essential to the processes of valorizing and revising our historical roots. It is his way of questioning the ahistorical conservatism that is currently rampant in the contemporary social mindset.

Now 30 years old, the Mostra de Arte da Juventude is about to pass beyond the threshold it itself uses for defining the “young artist.” Even so, the event continues to show its freshness and vitality by its welcoming attitude in regard to new proposals. It stands firmly as a space for the formation of artists, during the phase of their first investigations, conceptions and developments. After all, MAJ’s bet on a specific age range, coupled with its own continuity, underscores the transitoriness of youth even while it reveals the sensitivity and experimentation innate to this time of life.

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Friday 1 to 9:30pm
Saturday, Sunday and holiday 9:30am to 6pm