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Creator:
Bacon, Francis, 1909–1992
Title(s):
Francis Bacon : the beauty of meat / edited and curated by Adriano Pedrosa, Laura Cosendey, with the assistance of Isabela Ferreira Loures.
Additional Title(s):
Beauty of meat
Published/Created:
São Paulo : Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, 2024.
©2024
Physical Description:
273 pages : chiefly color illustrations, portraits ; 28 cm
Holdings:
Reference Library
ON ORDER
Accessible in the Reference Library [Hours]
Classification:
Books
Notes:
Catalog of the exhibition held in São Paulo at MASP, from March 22 to July 28, 2024.
"The exhibition is contextualized within a whole year dedicated to Queer Histories at the museum..."--Page 9.
Includes bibliographical references.
Born in Ireland, British painter Francis Bacon (190992) worked in furniture design and interior decoration until 1945, when his career as a painter took off. He enjoyed colossal success in his lifetime, especially as part of a London cohort that included such contemporaries as Lucian Freud and John Deakin. Considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century, best known for his distinctive way of portraying human figures. Especially in his male portraits and nudes, the physicality of the bodyskin, flesh, musclesis translated by the artist into thick, oily textures, giving the figures almost abstract shapes. Flashes of teeth, torsos and rib cages underscore Bacons visceral philosophy regarding the human form. As the artist famously said: "We are meat, we are potential carcasses. If I go into a butchers shop, I always think it is surprising that I wasnt there instead of the animal." Beyond their carnal overtones, these paintings unite a wide variety of influences, revisiting canonical themes and combining references to the great masters of painting with Bacons own perceptions of the male body. Both his biography and oeuvre were permeated by the presence of his lovers, with whom he established intense and turbulent relationships. Francis Bacon: "The Beauty of Meat" accompanies the 2024 exhibition at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, exploring the queer aspects of the artist's work and highlighting how Bacon, with his innovative and impactful painting, paved the way for queer presence in visual culture.
Subject Terms:
Bacon, Francis, 1909–1992 -- Criticism and interpretation.
Bacon, Francis, 1909–1992 -- Exhibitions.
Bacon, Francis, 1909–1992.
Criticism and interpretation.
Gay artists.
Homosexualité dans l'art.
Homosexuality in art.
Painting, British -- 20th century -- Exhibitions.
Painting, British.
Peinture britannique20e siècleExpositions.
Queer art.
Form/Genre:
exhibition catalogs.
Exhibition catalogs.
Exhibition catalogs.
Catalogues d'exposition.
Contributors:
Pedrosa, Adriano, editor, curator.
Cosendey, Laura, editor, curator.
Ferreira Loures, Isabela, editor, curator.
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  • Sponsors foreword. Art as a vector for innovation / NuBank
  • Francis Bacon at MASP / Heitor Martins and Adriano Pedrosa
  • Francis Bacon: the beauty of meat / Laura Cosendey
  • Queering the oeuvre: ambiguity in Bacon / Rina Arya
  • Wrestling with Francis Bacon, once again / Simon Ofield-Kerr
  • Francis Bacon in Tangier: queer beyond Britain / Gregory Salter
  • Bacons adventure in the photo booth: queer self-presentation and the fragmented head / Richard Hornsey
  • Francis Bacon meat, sex and fetishism / Dominic Janes
  • Francis Bacon, the cannibal and some Brazils / Paulo Herkenhoff
  • Works in the exhibition
  • Interview with Francis Bacon / Francis Giacobetti
  • Conversations at night / Michael Peppiatt
  • Biographical note / Isabela Ferreira Loures
  • Exhibition checklist.