Amilcar de Castro (Paraisópolis, Minas Gerais, 1920 - Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 2002)
A sculptor, engraver, draughtsman, lay out designer, set designer and lecturer.
Moved with his family to Belo Horizonte in 1935, studying at the Law Faculty of theFederal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) between 1941 and 1945. From 1944onwards, he attended the open course in drawing and painting with Guignard (1896 - 1962), at the School of Fine Arts of BeloHorizonte, studying figurative sculpture with Franz Weissmann (1911 - 2005). At the end of the 1940s, he took up a series of political appointments that he soon abandoned, together with his career as a lawyer. In parallel, his work made the transition from drawing to three-dimensions. In 1952, he moved to Rio de Janeiro, working as a layout designer for various publications, most notably redesigning the daily, Jornal do Brasil.
Under the influence of artistMax Bill, he developed his first concrete sculptures, which were exhibited at the 2nd São Paulo Biennial, in 1953. In 1959, after participating in the exhibition of the concrete group in Rio de Janeiro, he signed the " Neo Concrete Manifesto". The following year, he participated in the International Exhibition of Concrete Art, in Zurich,organized by his ex-professor Max Bill. In 1968, he went to the United States on a scholarship from theGuggenheim Memorial Foundation and as part of an award (a ticket abroad) from the 1967 National Salon of Modern Art. Upon returning to Brazil, in1971, he settled in Belo Horizonte, becoming a lecturer in composition and sculpture at the Escola Guignard, where he worked until 1977, also as its director. In the 1970s and 80s, he lectured at the Federal University of MinasGerais (UFMG) Faculty of Fine Arts, retiring from teaching in 1990 to dedicate himself exclusively to his art.
Recent solo shows include: Amilcar de Castro at MAM Rio (Museum of Modern Art), Rio de Janeiro, 2014; Amilcar de Castro, Galeria Marilia Razuk, 2014-2015; Empty House, Casa Vazia, Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, 2015; Amilcar de Castro, Estudo e Obras, IAC (Instituo de Arte Contemporânea), 2014; Brazil, Reinvention of the Modern, Gagosian Gallery Paris, 2011; Amilcar de Castro, MAM (Museum of Modern Art Rio de Janeiro), 2014; Repetição e Síntese, CCBB-BH - Belo Horizonte /MG, 2014; Amilcar de Castro, Instituto FigueiredoFerraz, Ribeirão Preto/ SP, 2012.