The Brazilian art critic Frederico Morais comments on the works sent by the São Paulo artist Nelson Leirner to the Salão de Brasília, and discusses the latter’s reaction to the jury’s decisions. In his reply to Leirner, Morais suggests that art has always had a provocative streak. He quotes Jean-Jacques Lebel and wonders whether Leirner’s objective might not have been “to provoke,” recalling similar events in the artist’s recent past, including: some flags seized by the authorities; a non-exhibition; and even an altar for the singer Roberto Carlos. Morais associates these activities with Dadaist antics and the concept of anti-art, thus defending the fact that Leirner’s works were accepted at the Brazilian Salão, in particular because of what he proposed and the discussion it prompted in terms of an aesthetic. From that critical perspective, value lies in “the proposal” rather than in artistic and craftsmanship values.        

Nelson Leirner (b. 1932) poses a question in his article—“Qual critério?”—published in the Jornal da Tarde (São Paulo, December 21, 1967). He identifies the jury’s criteria for choosing his work—entitled Matéria e Forma (1965)— at the IV Salão de Arte Moderna do Distrito Federal held in 1967 in Brasília, which sparked the so-called Critic’s Happening; that is, the critics’ string of responses to his challenge. One of the works sent to the Salão consisted of a dissected pig behind wooden bars with a ham tied around its throat.     

Geraldo de Barros (1923?98), another artist of Leirner’s generation, wrote about a group exhibition in 1965 at which Leirner showed Pop Art works [see 1110440]. The debate concerning the value of the work of art (in aesthetic and market terms) continued to be the key point in Leirner’s anti-system work.

The art critic Frederico Morais (b. 1936), a consistent advocate for the avant-gardes, organized the Salão de Brasília and was a member of the jury. He published Leirner’s letter and, in his reply, defended avant-garde art in his article “Porco e aposentadoria” [Pig and Pension], which appeared in the Diário de notícias (Rio de Janeiro, February 4, 1968).

The French artist Jean-Jacques Lebel (b. 1936), whom Morais mentioned in his article, was a pioneer of European Happenings. The Brazilian event prompted the publication of articles by a number of noted Brazilian journalists and critics, including Geraldo Ferraz (1905–79) who, in his review in the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper (São Paulo, January 28, 1968), questioned the jury’s decision to accept Leirner’s work. The list also includes Mário Pedrosa (1900–81) who, in 1959, published an article about critical trends, in addition to the article in which he analyzed art criticism vis-à-vis the crisis of artistic values at that heady time, which was published in the Correio da Manhã (Rio de Janeiro, February 11, 1968) and titled “Do porco empalhado ou os critérios da crítica” [On Dissected Pig or the Critics’ Criteria].