Claudio Tozzi

Claudio Tozzi is a Brazilian artist born in 1944 in São Paulo Brazil, who has worked since the 1960s to challenge the political and social culture of Brazil and the world. Through his art he has been highlighting the censorship of military dictatorships, the woes of mass media, and the strength of individuals. Tozzi has participated in the Nueva Figuración movement which referred primarily to issues experienced by Brazilians. Brazil lived under the oppressive rule of the country's dictator for years and the NeoFiguration movement worked to question the physical and social conditions of the era. Tozzi's work has since been shared worldwide as he has gained popularity outside of Brazil due to the mutually understood themes.
== Biography ==
Tozzi was born in 1944 in São Paulo, Brazil where he continues to live and work. He became a member of the University of São Paulo's Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism school at 20 years old. However, despite his education, Tozzi never decided to practice architecture and instead worked as a graphic artist. During his education, he met Mário Schenberg, a physicist and critic, who deemed Tozzi’s art as NeoFiguration and from there, his interest in figuration grew as he grappled with the surround political and social landscapes. Tozzi worked in an era of oppressive military dictatorship in Brazil where censorship was persistent and political protests were common. This created the backdrop to which Tozzi developed his art as a voice for the people. 
== Training and influences ==
Tozzi attended the University of São Paulo in 1964, joining their Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism. Tozzi never worked as an architect but instead spent his time studying and becoming a graphic artist. During his time at the university, Tozzi’s work was already connected to the NeoFiguration movement of Brazil, at least according to critic Mario Schenberg. Tozzi’s interest in working within the movement grew as he began to meld the social and political realities he was witnessing in Brazil.
Tozzi had many influences during these early years. Tozzi himself cites photos and newspaper articles from his daily life as influential in his art. It is important to note that the media he was influenced by was created in a time of mass public unrest and dictatorial censorship. Later, he said that the demonstrations, arrests, and repression of the people in Brazil greatly influenced his work. He also credits the access to publications, books, and magazines through the College of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo with his knowledge of the NeoFiguration movement around the world. This allowed him to see what other artists around the world were doing and it influenced much of the media he used.
== Career ==
Throughout his career, Tozzi worked within the NeoFiguration movement utilizing pop art to critique the military dictatorship in which he was living. Brazil was under direct control of the military after a coup in 1964; between 1964 and 1985 the military implemented an authoritarian regime to monitor and control the social and political lives of Brazilians. As political protests became more prevalent in the 1960s, Tozzi used more imagery that referenced crowds or political icons, exhibiting a common theme of his, showing people in protest. As he worked to mirror the society around him, his art began to show intensely contrasted images where he cut out pieces of photographs and reassembled them. This, some critics believe, was meant to show the disintegration and new integration of the image therefore reflecting the disintegration or the loss of strength and unity within Brazil.
=== NeoFiguration Movement ===
Claudio Tozzi participated in the NeoFiguration movement (or Nueva Figuracion) that characterized art making throughout Latin America in the 1960s. This movement aimed to revive figurative art following a time that was primarily dominated by abstract art. Many argue that the move back to figuration occurred during a time of intense political and social unrest in both Europe and the Americas. It has been hypothesized that the incorporation of figures in the NeoFiguration movement was meant to be expressive works that are essentially based on the human form. The movement has been deemed by critics one of the most important post-war movements to occur in Latin America.
=== Pop art ===
Tozzi was even more influenced by Pop art, which was another international movement of the 1960s. Some of the NeoFiguration artists in Latin America, like Tozzi along with Felipe Ehrenberg and Rubens Gerchman, gravitated to Pop Art instead of the expressionistic and painterly styles. According to some art critics, pop art is a reflection and critique of the capitalist consumerism and mass communication circuits in society. Pop art is typically a bright, flashy, and colorful representation but many, including Tozzi, worked to turn the tool into a critique of the society around them.
== Artwork and ideas ==
Tozzi’s work participates primarily in the Pop Art mode, in which colorful representational figures are utilized to depict and critique the surrounding political culture. Shape, color, and dimension are all carefully used to create his deeper meaning. His specific style portrays a distinct contrast of color capturing the sharpness of the political state of his country. Lastly, his stylistic use of colors also provides a dramatic difference allowing the simple images and figures he uses to become more prominent.
Much of the content depicted by Tozzi reflects the turbulent political status of Brazil during the period of the authoritarian regime between 1964 and 1985. Depictions of crowds, political icons, and protests all make up some of his recurrent themes. One of his most famous pieces is titled Multitude 1968. He uses black and white acrylic paint to depict a crowd of somewhat indistinct people, with a band of clenched fists on the top and bottom. In an interview he notes that the series of crowds he shows throughout his work are based on photos he had taken, while the historical iconography of the fist he found through his research. The raised fist icon is a symbol of unity and solidarity with oppressed peoples, historically associated with Black pride and Black power.
In another painting, Guevara with alkyd (synthetic polyester resin) paint on eucatex (high density wood fiber board) he depicts Che Guevara, a major figure in the Cuban revolution. The painting was completed shortly after Guevara’s assassination by the CIA and his figure became a symbol of rebellion to the capitalist exploitation of Latin America by the United States. The figure of Guevara again shows Tozzi’s dedication to his political beliefs and themes of political and social mobilization in Brazil.
== Exhibitions ==
* 2015, “The World Goes Pop”, Take Modern, September 17, 2015-January 24, 2016
* 2015 “International Pop”, Walker Art Center, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. April 11-August 29,2015
* 2016, “New Figuration The Rise of Pop Art, 1967-1971” Almeida & Dale Gallery with the British Gallery, January 23- March 24, 2016
* 2017, “Terre Haute Highland: Pop Art Collective Exhibition”, Galeria Jarouche, July 4- September 9, 2017
* 2017, “Territorios”, Gary Nader Art Centre, March 2- April 2, 2017
== Artworks ==
* A Conversa 1967 (Liquitex on canvas glued on plate 74 x 74 cm)
* Multitude 1968 (Acrylic paint on agglomerate 199 x 120 cm)
* Multidão (Crowd) 1968 (Industrial paint on duratex 77 x130 cm)
* Catraca (Turnstile), 1968 (Wood and iron 127 x 80 cm)
* Fotonovela, 1969 (Acrylic with silkscreen ink & wood on paper glued on plate 51x51cm)
* Astronauta 1969/ 2018 (Liquitex on canvas 70 x 70 cm)
* Mulher Bebendo 1969 (Screen printing on paper 20 x 20 in)
* Pelé 1969/1970 (Alkyd paint on eucatex 122 x 121 cm)
* Cinturão (Belt) 1970 (Liquitex on canvas 94 x 122 cm)
* USA 2012 (Screen printing on paper 17 x 35.8 in)
Category:Brazilian artists
Category:1944 births
Category:People from São Paulo