Keywords
Abstract
The latest edition of the Bienal of San Pablo wrote
an original chapter in the history of censorship against
art. A work of art by the argentine artist Roberto
Jacoby was censored by the electoral court. It is
argued here that the judicial measure revealed a num-
ber of current tensions between art and politics, as
well as the difficult relationship existing between
artistic institutions and economic power nowadays.
Jacoby’s work showed two large photographies of
the main candidates ruling for Brazil`s presidency
while their campaign was going on. This article explo-
res the political and aesthetical implications of the
episode, while analyzing the motivations of the artist.
Also, it presents some clues to understand his work
philosophically, that go far beyond the explicit sub-
ject-matter of the images his exhibited. Jacoby’s work,
it is argued here, tried do defend a conceptualist pro-
gram for the arts, and this important aspect of his
work was not perceived in the debate it arouses
during the Biennal.
Keywords: aesthetics; politics; censorship