Waltércio Caldas Júnior, also known as Waltércio Caldas, is a Brazilian sculptor, designer, and graphic artist. Caldas is best known as part of Brazil's Neo-Concretism movement as well as for his eclectic choices in materials.
Early life and education
Caldas was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the son of Diva Caldas and Waltercio Caldas, a civil engineer. Due to his father's occupation, Caldas has stated that from a young age he was surrounded by drawings and scale models. In the early sixties, Caldas had his first amateur exhibition showing at the Student’s Council of the Philosophy Course at Rio de Janeiro State University. And in 1964, Caldas began studying under at the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro.
Career
Early work (1960s – 1980s)
Caldas completed his first graphic project in 1965 and in the late 1960s first started experimenting with perception and enigmatic sculptures. In the early seventies, Caldas also started creating drawings and box object such as The Seven Stars of Silence, Centre of Primitive Reason, and You are Blind which drew critical acclaim including from :pt:Gilberto Chateaubriand|Gilberto Chateaubriand. In 1973, Caldas exhibited his first solo show at the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro which he was widely commended for. Writer, :pt:Ronaldo Correia de Brito|Ronaldo Brito wrote about the exhibition and commented that Caldas' work encouraged the viewer to not just look at the art, but contemplate it as well as it evoked a moment of "psychic bewilderment" in the viewer. Also at this time, Caldas edited Malasartes, a short-lived magazine that became a landmark in the Brazilian artistic scene and taught "Art and Visual Perception" at the Villa-Lobos Institute. In the 1980s, Caldas started to create more facilities in his work. Caldas moved to New York in 1985 where he experimented with non-transparent sculpture material. Caldas then returned to Brazil the following year where he showed two shows simultaneously in both Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo that paralleled each other and emphasized the idea of "double intrinsic." In 1989, Caldas installed its first public sculpture: The Instant Garden in Carmo Park, São Paulo.
Later work (1990s – present)
In 1990, Caldas exhibited his first solo show in Europe, drawings at the Pulitzer Gallery in Amsterdam. Caldas then completed his second public commission sculpture, Omkring, in 1994, which is now on permanent display in Leirfjord, Norway. The sculpture was classified as "line articulation" and commended for countering lightness with tension.
Recognition
In 1990, Caldas was awarded the Brasilia Art Award at the Brasilia Museum of Art which also led to the museum incorporating pieces from Caldas into its collection. In 1993, Caldas' solo show, The Finest Air, was exhibited at the Fine Arts National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, which was awarded the Mario Pedrosa Award and named the Best Show of the Year in Brazil by the Brazilian Art Critics’ Association. In 1998, Caldas was named a Johnnie Walker Award recipient and presented a sculpture to be permanently displayed at the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia.
Personal life
Caldas is married to Patricia Vasconcellos and currently lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
