The KWY group, which formed in Paris around the magazine under the same name, published from 1958 to 1964, included Portuguese artists René Bertholo, Lourdes Castro, António Costa Pinheiro, Gonçalo Duarte, José Escada and João Vieira, as well as Bulgarian artist Christo and German artist Jan Voss. Starting in the late 1950s, the KWY group were major contributors to opening up Portuguese art to the international context and launching a keen interest for the new figurative languages that brought about one of the most stimulating periods in twentieth century European culture.

Based on the cosmopolitan and experimental spirit of the KWY magazine, this exhibition features a selection of works and artists’ publications from the Serralves Collection from Portuguese and international artists who were part of KWY group or collaborated in the KWY magazine, such as Raymond Hains and Jorge Martins, as well as other publishing projects active at the time, namely the magazine Daily Bul, Sens Plastique and Dé-collage. In its totality, the exhibition reveals a simultaneously enthusiastic and critical interest for the new configurations of reality, everyday objects and events, consumer society and the omnipresence of images in the public space marking art’s claim to be at the core of the sociocultural events of its time.

‘A Cosmopolitan Realism’ in Fórum da Maia is part of a programme of exhibitions and sited presentations of works from the Serralves Collection that furthers the Museum’s aim of making the Collection visible and accessible to a broader public around the country.

Production: Fundação de Serralves — Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Porto