What's showing in art: Sao Paulo

This posting will be sans pictures since Pickle Deli Square is at an internet cafe today (darn broken guesthouse internet!).

One thing that I love about Sao Paulo is the sheer amount of art and design exhibits throughout the city, as I wrote in my First Impressions. Just as in Rio, a lot of the shows are not in regular museums of contemporary or modern art. A lot of them are housed in "cultural centers" sponsored by banks (mainly), or by the city...which means that most of the shows are free.

My favorite of the bunch was the Trilhas do Desejo (Trails of Desire) exhibit at Itau Cultural on Avenida Paulista. Basically it's a team-curated show with artists throughout Brazil. The work was truly mixed media, in contrast to the painting- or photo-heavy shows that seem to be prevalent at this time in both Rio and Sampa. On through May 10, admission is free.

Another little gem is the MIS - Museu da Imagem e do Som (Museum of Image and Sound), next to MuBE - Museu Brasileiro da Escultura (Sculpture Museum) in Jardins Europa. Neither are listed in Lonely Planet, but I was on a mission to see the MuBE building, designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha (2006 Pritzker Prize laureate). They were in between shows at MuBE, but MIS had a nice show of video art. Now, I usually can't stand 99% of video art since a lot of it looks like it was made exclusively for the pleasure of the artist, with none left over for the audience. But I liked most pieces in this show, and like a piece by a trio from Sao Paulo that combined images of sound, and sound itself in a most pleasurable way (Em Andamento by Gisela Motta, Leandro Lima, Carlos Issa). Admission is BRL$4.