Aloísio Magalhães (Recife PE 1927 - Padua, Italy 1982)
Aloísio Magalhães was a painter, designer, engraver, set designer and costume designer. He graduated in Law from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) in 1950. At that time, he participated in the Student Theater of Pernambuco (TEP), acting as a set designer and costume designer, in addition to being responsible for the puppet theater. With a scholarship from the French government, he studied museology in Paris between 1951 and 1953, a period in which he also attended Atelier 17, a center dedicated to the dissemination of engraving techniques, where he was a student of the engraver Stanley William Hayter (1901–1988). He returned to Brazil in 1953.
In 1956, with a scholarship granted by the United States government, he traveled to the country and dedicated himself to graphic arts and visual programming. He published, in partnership with Eugene Feldman, the books Doorway to Portuguese and Doorway to Brasília, in addition to teaching at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art. In 1960, he returned to Brazil and opened an office focused on visual communication, a field in which he became a of the pioneers in the country, carrying out projects for companies and public bodies.
In 1963, he collaborated in the creation of the Superior School of Industrial Design (ESDI), where he started teaching visual communication. The following year, he created the symbol of the 4th centenary of Rio de Janeiro, his first work of great public repercussion. In 1965, he designed the symbol for the São Paulo Biennial Foundation. From 1966 onwards, he began to develop drawings for Brazilian banknotes and coins.
In 1979, he was appointed director of the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan) and, the following year, became president of the National Pró-Memória Foundation, starting a campaign for the preservation of the Brazilian historical heritage. In his honor, the Metropolitan Gallery of Art of Recife was renamed Galeria Metropolitana de Arte Aloísio Magalhães in 1982. In 1997, the name of the institution was changed to Museum of Modern Art Aloísio Magalhães (Mamam).
Designer
His first involvements with graphic design was with the group the amateur graphic, which had exponents of Brazilian literature, such as Ariano Suassuna and João Cabral de Melo Neto. Aloísio's graphic style in this period has a lightness and informality very characteristic of the visual arts, and his first effective contact with the design and international style took place in the United States, alongside Eugenie Feldman, in The Falcon Press. Upon returning to Brazil, he opens with other colleagues Magalhães + Noronha + Punctual, his first office (he would have some others, the most successful being the PVDI Visual Programming and Industrial Design). In the area of education, he taught with Alexandre Wollner a typography course at MAM-RJ, and then he would be invited with the same and other designers to found the first industrial design school in Brazil, the Higher School of Industrial Design, ESDI, where he taught classes. And it is from his 15th birthday at the school that perhaps his most famous text came out, what industrial design can do for the country, in 1977. to the cataloging and preservation of Brazilian popular culture (we can say on an equal footing with Lina Bo Bardi). Although my desire was to continue here talking a little more about the person and thought of Aloísio Magalhães, it may be more interesting to see what the author effectively designed to understand the scale of importance of the same in our history. Among the hundreds of projects in which he was involved, we chose only 5 to comment, as they are works of tremendous originality, and graphic quality that makes them current until today, and mostly still in use (even if with changes). Analysis of the projects to the 4th centenary of Rio de Janeiro (1964), Unibanco (1965), Light (1966), Petrobras (1970), and its design for the new Cruzeiro Novo card (1966). A successful public project is one that is absorbed by the population, which is part of people's lives and makes them proud of some situation. And the first project that comes to my mind when thinking about these characteristics was the 4th centenary of Rio de Janeiro. From an odd formal simplicity, the project consists of 2 moments of reading: the first is formed by the vertical and horizontal mirroring of the numeral 4, forming something close to a cross, thus connecting with the Cross of Malta (Portuguese legacy of the Great Navigations). Within the laws of gestalt, we have the closing, when the form can be read in the absence of the same, in its counter-form. If we look at the negative space formed between the triangles of this symbol, we find a large 4, which is the 5th four of the logo. At the time, after the disclosure of the contest that elected such a graphic brand as the winner, many complained that it was an airtight and closed logo, which no one would understand.
However, the reception by the population was of such a successful order that the logo became, in a Completely authentic, kites, bathing suits, samba school costumes, commemorative designs on walls and streets (as happens in the World Cup season), tattoos, etc. It was so absorbed by popular culture, in that way that any of us would like to have a project, that I can't remember a more successful project than this one. Formally, there is in this graphic mark a point that will be very characteristic of Aloísio Magalhães, which is radial symmetry. This symmetry that we also find in the logo of the former Banco Moreira Sales, then Unibanco. The radial symmetry of such a symbol has a sense of infinity and rotation that will be repeated in several works by the designer, such as the National Bank, Editora Delta, or the quadricentenary itself. The complexity of shapes and curves he gave to the Unibanco logo reminds me of when I interviewed João de Souza Leite over Aloísio, in May of that year, who told me that Aloísio's great differential in relation to the other designers of his time (especially those of the concrete movement of design, like Wollner) was that Aloísio Magalhães solved his projects in the line, and the geometric aspects were the visual and technical feasibility of the solution found via dash, drawing. I say that such complexity reminded me of this conversation because it is quite unlikely that such a symbol would have been conceived in this way, if it were not such a characteristic of the designer. In terms of adequacy between formal manipulation and respect for the memory of an institution, the logo for Companhia de Luz do Rio de Janeiro, Light, is a very interesting example.
In an interview with Joaquim Redig, the latter commenting on the importance of the tradition of an identity in his reformulation, listed this project as notable in this regard. Before his redesign, Light had a small radius as a logo. In the project, Aloísio masterfully knew how to maintain such an element, already known to the population of the state of Rio, and bring it to the language worthy of his time. Keeping the same mirroring language, he used the letter L to, when he folded it vertically and create the silhouette of a new radius. Tilting the design, it provided dynamics to the piece, certainly creating one of the best logos that Brazil has ever seen. It managed to maintain the already traditional sign with the company, combining it with its initial, which generated an exceptionally pregnant and clean, modern and simple result. The project was currently slightly redesigned, tuned the upper and lower ends of both LS, without, however, losing the original concept created by Aloísio. Equally iconic in the history of design is the visual identity of Petrobras, certainly one of the biggest and most complex of its time. Prior to the redesign of Aloísio and his office, the Petrobras logo consisted of a yellow rhombus with the company's name inside. In an attempt to refer to Brazil, the rhombus was an appropriate element of the national flag and used as the main item of this Brazilianness.
Redig told me that, in order to verify that such a lozenge really referred to Brazil and if it was an effective sign for that purpose, A survey was made of companies that used a rhombus in their logo. And, this is very interesting, Redig says that the great element of graphic research of the time (beginning of the 1970s) was the telephone book, check it out! And, leafing through the magazine, they found that the most varied companies of the most varied branches with the most varied intentions made use of the rhombus as the main element. Gillete, Goodyear and Kibon are some of those cited by Redig. It was then concluded that the losangular element was not enough to identify the country in a logo and started with the search for new alternatives. It was then decided to abandon a formal language to refer to the country and chromatic language and verbal language were assumed to identify it: BR is found both in Brazil and in Petrobras, it is the acronym commonly used to identify the country in a abbreviated etc. And the project came to fruition, but it succeeded in such a way that, when in 2000, a reformulation of the company's visual identity and naming was attempted, which would be renamed Petrobrax, the news shocked the whole of Brazil, which reacted, such an attempt to change did not last. more than two days, thus returning to its old and original name. The graphic mark of Aloísio was resumed, and later updated by the PVDI itself, but already after his death. When commenting on the Petrobrax episode, Redig draws the attention of the need for respect and historical evaluation of the weight of a brand when trying to reformulate it, as done by Aloísio Magalhães for Light. And, ending the work analyzes, touching the theme of the story again, we have the Cruzeiro Novo project. Also in the contest, Aloísio's project was selected, and it yielded (and still yields) enormous praise for its innovation. Talking once with a friend, she caught my attention the amount of symbolic characteristics that a simple paper money must carry: it cannot in any way convey insecurity, it must contain elements that identify its nation, it must be inside, however, a typology that still identifies it as money, among many others.
Aloísio's innovation for Cruzeiro Novo took place not only semantically, but perhaps above all, functionally. The story is very well told in the book A Heritage of Olhar, organized by João de Souza Leite. In short, Aloísio made use of an effect called moiré, which is about reticular misalignment, in order to generate an optical effect that is difficult to reproduce. With such a card, Aloísio wins the contest and still innovates in a practically millenary area, which is the production of paper money. He participated in a second redesign, when this time he functionally innovates in the use of money: realizing the great impediment that it is for money to have a top and bottom side, often making it difficult to recognize the value or its ordering, it made the notes have the same mirroring that characterizes others of their projects Previous: From that moment on, the paper ceases to have an upper or lower side, keeping the same regardless of the way it puts it in the wallet or with the others.
Critical Comment
At the end of the 1940s, a law student student In Recife, Aloísio Magalhães participates in the Pernambuco Student Theater - TEP, which proposes a popular theater, with presentations in public squares. He works as a set designer, costume designer and is responsible for the puppet theater. He receives a scholarship from the French government to study museology in Paris, where he remains between 1951 and 1953. He also attends Atelier 17, an important experimental laboratory in the dissemination of engraving techniques, and takes classes with the Stanley William Hayter tape recorder (1901-1988).
Back to Brazil, in 1953, he dedicates himself sporadically to painting and does research in graphic arts. Participates in the foundation of the amateur graphic, a workshop created by a group of intellectuals interested in the art of the book, carrying out experiments with printing techniques. The editions have a careful graphic form and among them stands out the Tourist Auction of Recife, by João Cabral de Melo Neto (1920-1999), with design and illustrations by Aloísio Magalhães.
In 1960, after working For some time in the United States with visual programming and graphic arts, he moved to Rio de Janeiro. It opens an office focused on visual communication, a field in which it is a pioneer in the country, and carries out projects for companies and public bodies. He created, among others, the symbol of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo and that of the 4th Centenary of Rio de Janeiro, his first work of great repercussion, and spontaneously reproduced by the population in various parts of the city. In the creation of symbols, Magalhães starts, most of the time, of a unit that is reflected, exploring the three-dimensionality and rotation of the volume in space. Works with art book design and editorial design. In 1963, he collaborated in the creation of the Higher School of Industrial Design (ESDI), where he teaches visual communication. Conducts the Cruzeiro Novo project in 1966.
Aloísio Magalhães is appointed, in 1979, director of the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute - IPHAN,  E Secretary of Culture of the Ministry of Education and Cultura, in 1981. In the 1980s, it began a campaign for the preservation of the Brazilian historical heritage. It presents proposals especially in relation to Ouro Preto and the ruins of São Miguel das Missões.
Exhibits, in 1972, the series Cartemas - the name given by Antônio Houaiss -, which is based on the postcard, used in collages that explore the principles of multiple and mirroring. At that time, he made a series of drawings by Olinda, with records of landscape and architecture, in a poetic way. It stands out for its artistic versatility and mainly for its relevant performance in relation to the policy of cultural goods and preservation of historical heritage. In his short life, it is difficult, therefore, to isolate his activity in the field of industrial design from those he exercised in other fields. He was an excellent graphic artist, he was a painter, designer and, surprisingly, political in the achievement of means for carrying out his cultural projects. National memory, which constituted almost a fixed idea, was made through the Pró-Memória Foundation and the Secretariat for Historical and National Artistic Heritage. Assuming the responsibilities assigned to him. He obtained resources, personally took care of reconciling divergent tendencies and interests, and structured a scheme that worked" (...)
José E. Mindlin
MINDLIN, José. Aloísio Magalhães: a multipurpose "designer". In: Aloisio Magalhães and Industrial Design in Brazil. São Paulo: FIESP/CIESP, 1983. p. 2.
Testimonies
"Disorder is only apparent. In fact, I feel a huge fascination for this world of combinations and inventions in which lines, colors, spaces live for themselves. and rich. A world that can really bewilder us with its exuberance. But freedom and invention also have to pay its price, as I said before. And if you prefer the real, I confess that, before him, I prefer what is possible. As a painter, I feel pleasure in the face of the elements of the painting and I think almost physically in terms of canvas and ink. This is what the paintings are built with. The admission of the forms as possible - and not as real - increases in my particular case, the joy of creation, the feeling of adventure that must preside over the birth of any work of art. The world of the possible gives me this more than the world of the real, it must be true to its directions, which are unpredictable but not chaotic, they offer, in exchange for their dangers, the safety present in all the return. Because after it has been carried out, the picture thus understood launches, in the world of art and even in life, forms brought to the real of the unknown, creating safe terrain in the place where it was waiting for us before, only what was obscure, formless and unstable".
Aloísio Magalhães
MAGALHÃES, Aloísio. Aloísio Magalhães. In: ______. Aloísio Magalhães: Painting and graphic art Rio de Janeiro: MAM, 1958. P. 6.
"I found that through design, in pragmatic works of collective use, I could find a much more lively and dynamic source of questions. The idea of collective participation was what interested me the most. The painter's activity was too subjective, he isolated the artist from the community a lot and what interested me was to resume this contact in a direct and participating way."
Aloísio Magalhães
AYALA, Walmir. Aloísio Magalhães. In: AYALA, Walmir; SEFFRIN, André (org. ). Dictionary of Brazilian painters. Curitiba: UFPR, 1997. p. 18.
Individual exhibitions
1953 - Recife PE - Individual, in the Department of Education and Culture
1954 - São Paulo SP - Landscapes of Pernambuco by Aloísio Magalhães, at MAM/SP
1956 - São Paulo SP - Individual MAM/SP
1956 - Washington (United States) - Individual, at the Pan American Union
1957 - New York (United States) - Individual, at Roland de Aenlle Gallery
1958 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Aloísio Magalhães: painting and graphic art, at MAM/RJ
1958 - Salvador BA - Individual, at Galeria Oxumaré
1959 - Philadelphia (United States) - Individual, at The Print Club of Philadelphia
1959 - New York (United States) - Individual, at Roland de Aenlle Gallery
1961 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Petite Galerie
1966 - Stuttgart (Germany) - Aloísio Magalhães - Exhibition on the symbol of the 4th centenary of Rio de Janeiro at the University's Technische Hochschule
1972 - Belo Horizonte MG - Cartemas, NA EBA/UFMG
1972 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Cartemas, at MAM/RJ
1972 - Recife PE - Cartemas, at the Sugar Museum
1973 - Recife PE - Aloísio Magalhães: watercolors and lithographs, at Galeria Lotus
1973 - São Paulo SP - Cartemas, at MAM/SP
1974 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Aloísio Magalhães: lithographs, Watercolors and Cartemas, at Galeria da Praça
1974 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at the Ministry of Education and Culture
1974 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at MAM/SP
1977 - New York (States) United States) - Cartemas, at Fischback Gallery
Collective exhibitions
1953 - São Paulo SP - 2nd São Paulo International Biennial, at MAM/SP
1954 - Recife PE - Salão of the State of Pernambuco
1955 - São Paulo SP - 3rd International Biennial of São Paulo, at MAM/SP
1955 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 4th National Salon of Modern Art
1956 - São Paulo SP - 50 years of the Brazilian landscape, at MAM/SP
1958 - Cincinnati (United States) - 5th International Biennial of Contemporary Lithography in Color, at the Cincinnati Art Museum
1958 - New York (United States) - Recent acquisitions of the collection, at MOMA
1959 - São Paulo SP - 5th São Paulo International Biennial, at MAM/SP
1959 - Munich (Germany) - Brazilian modern art Europe
1960 - Venice (Italy) - 30th Venice Biennial
1961 - São Paulo SP - 6th São Paulo International Biennial, at MAM/SP
1971 - Cali (Colombia) - 1st American Biennial of Graphic Arts, at the Museu de la Tertulia
1972 - Curitiba PR - 29th Salão Paranaense, at Teatro Guaíra
1972 - São Paulo SP - Art/Brazil/Today: 50 years later, at the Collectio Gallery
1974 - São Paulo SP - 6th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1976 - São Paulo SP - The young design of the 40s, at the Pinacoteca do Estado
Posthetic exhibitions
1983 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Aluísio Magalhães and the industrial design in Brazil, at Banco Boa Vista
1983 - São Paulo SP - Aloísio Magalhães and Industrial Design in Brazil, at MASP
1984 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Recent Donations 82-84, at MNBA
1984 - São Paulo SP - Tradition and Rupture: Synthesis of Art and Culture Brazilian women, at Fundação Bienal
1985 - São Paulo SP - 100 Obras Itaú, at Masp
1990 - Curitiba PR - 1st Brazilian Design Biennial
1992 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st On the way to Niterói: João Sattamini Collection, at Paço Imperial
1997 - Porto Alegre RS - 1st Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial
1997 - Porto Alegre RS - Constructive Strand and Design, at Espaço Cultural ULBRA
1998 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 16th National Salon of Plastic Arts, at MAM/RJ
1998 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - International Design Exhibition, at CCBB
1998 - São Paulo SP - MAM Bahia Collection: Paintings, at MAM/SP
1998 - São Paulo SP - International Design Exhibition, at CCSP
2002 - Porto Alegre RS - Appropriations and Collections, at Santander Cultural
2002 - São Paulo SP - The Form and the Technical Image in the Art of Rio de Janeiro: 1950-1975, at the Paço das Artes
2003 - Niterói RJ - Appropriations: Short circuit of participatory experiences, in the MAC-Niterói
2003 - Recife PE - see again/see the new, at MAMAM
2003 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Order X Liberdade, at MAM/RJ
2003 - São Paulo SP - The subversion of means, at Itaú Cultural
2005 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The other sense of the modern. Aloisio Magalhães and Brazilian Design, at the Correios Cultural Center
Source: Itaú Cultural
