After arriving, I decided to enjoy a fairly leisurely afternoon, which involved immediately taking advantage of the nice whirlpool bathtub. (The champagne welcome drink, which got refilled before i headed upstairs to my room, helped too.)
I apparently lingered too long in the tub to get a proper lunch— it seems most restaurants close around 3ish and reopen around 7 or 7:30 for dinner— but there was a light menu available upstairs at the rooftop bar. I tried something Brazilian with rice and shrimp (no photo, no memory of what it’s called) that was very good, and enjoyed a local craft bear. Do people surf near Sao Paulo? It was crisp and refreshing, and paired nicely with the warmish (but not too warm, and I hate heat) weather.
At the rooftop bar of the Hotel Unique
Suitably fortified, I realized that I was in luck, and the 32nd Sao Paulo Bienal was open until 8pm that night, so I didn’t completely waste the day. I do something art related, which means that actually, I frequently avoid doing art related things when traveling for pleasure. I was in Italy a few weeks ago and did not step foot inside a museum. I frequently miss exhibitions (world-class ones at that!) that are happening just a few blocks from where I live. And I know nothing about Brazilian art. So all this is to say that I am not one of these people that chases after contemporary art shows: I’m not a contemporary specialist anyway. It’s true now, and it was true during the Renaissance: most stuff at any given time isn’t great. Maybe technically proficient, but you’ve got to wade through a lot of mediocre stuff. But I’m sure you’re all terribly interested in my critical assessment of the state of contemporary art? I’ll move on.
But, I’m in Brazil, this thing is happening not far from where I’m staying, and it gives me an excuse or a destination of something to do. So I ask downstairs if I can walk there— Google Maps says it’s about 20 minutes away— and the friendly doorman points me in the right direction.
I don’t exactly take the most direct route (Google Maps came in handy), but Iberapuera Park was lovely to wander in. There were lots of skaters (my inner 90s child wanted to Gleam the Cube!), and I saw some Niemeyer architecture that is just very, very nifty.
In Iberapuera Park: I just liked the graffiti.
The Bienal was much larger than I was expecting (in fact, I went back the next door, and realized I missed an entire floor.) And it was really, really cool. Again, I wasn’t expecting to like anything and figured I’d maybe be in and out in 30 minutes (I tend to dart into museums for about 45 minutes at a time— luckily I get in free to museums everywhere—to see a very limited amount of stuff before visual fatigue sets in.) But, this was really, really cool. The Brazilian art here made sense. There were international artists— some I know, more that were unfamiliar to me— as well, but it was mostly the Brazilian works that really stood out. In this context they made sense. There was a certain smell that wasn’t just Fresh New Exhibition Paint Smell, and the large windows were open so there was a light breeze, that to me seemed rather unique to this place. A lot of these works incorporated wood, or natural materials. I was particularly struck by one work, which was effectively a sound installation, by the Brazilian artist Vivian Caccuri. I won’t bother attaching a photo because you really had to be there and experience it, but it involved a wall of subwoofers and speakers, some candles, and some noise. I stood there probably for 10 minutes— and again, even though I do artsy stuff professionally, I DO NOT DO THIS TYPE OF STUFF. I’ve got the attention span of a gnat— and it all seemed right. (Did I mention, I usually really, really hate ‘sound art’?)
One view as you walk into the Bienale.
I ended up spending about 3 hours there, which is again pretty amazing for me. I took a cab back to the hotel, and realized that I probably wasn’t up to any major dinner plans. (I toyed with going out for Japanese.) This is where being within walking distance to some casual restaurants would have been handy, but I figured I’d be decadent and order room service and lounge in bed, and it ended up really being some of the best room service I’ve had. Anchovies, a pizza, and some wine hit the spot and so ended my first day in Brazil.
