INDEPENDENT 20TH CENTURY 2026

Presenting Ubi Bava at the Breuer Building, designed by Marcel Breuer, during Independent 2026, means placing in dialogue two creators who understood structure and perception as inseparable fields. In many of Bava’s geometric paintings, such as his studies of square and circular modules or the overlapping planar compositions of the 1950s, one sees a shared interest in volume, sharp angles, tonal gradation, and spatial organization that borders on the architectural.

Breuer’s brutalist and modernist architecture, marked by incisive geometries and dramatic light effects, amplifies the constructive character of Bava’s work. In this encounter, the artist’s paintings and objects would acquire a renewed depth, becoming sensitive extensions of the architectural space.

Bava’s works are held in numerous public and private collections in Brazil and abroad, including the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro — MAM Rio, the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói — MAC Niterói, the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo — MAM São Paulo, the Palácio do Itamaraty, the Adolpho Leirner Collection of Latin American Constructive Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation — CIFO, the Edson Queiroz Collection, the Museu Oscar Niemeyer, among others.

In 2012, the artist’s family created the Ubi Bava Institute with the aim of preserving, disseminating, certifying, and cataloguing his work. In 2024, the first monographic publication on the artist was released, titled Ubi Bava — uma homenagem [Ubi Bava — a tribute]. A traveling institutional solo exhibition project is currently in development, with its presentation scheduled for 2027 and 2028.