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Between Heritage and Progress
Between Heritage and Progress
May 6, 2026
German Lorca, No Desfile – Binóculos, ca.1960
© German Lorca
The large-scale group exhibition is dedicated to a stylistically formative chapter of Brazilian photography that has had little exposure in Germany up until now – and has never been explored so comprehensively at a German venue. The showcase focuses on a generation of photographers who, between the 1940s and 1960s, forged new creative paths to express the aesthetic and cultural upheavals of their time. Their work reflects an era of profound transformation in Brazil, shaped by modernisation, industrialisation, a more international outlook, and a quest for a new national identity.
At the heart of the exhibition are five key figures of the Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante in São Paulo: Gaspar Gasparian, German Lorca, Nelson Kojranski, José Yalenti, and Eduardo Salvatore. With their experimental approaches – using abstraction, reflections and unusual angles – they developed a distinctive visual language that closely aligned with international modernist movements. Many of the displayed works have been integrated into the collections of renowned institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York or the Tate Modern in London. The presentation at the Leica Gallery Frankfurtdemonstrates how Brazil’s modernist movement combined national themes with a global visual language – thereby opening up a new perspective on modernism and its transnational history.
Katrin UllmannAt the heart of the exhibition are five key figures of the Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante in São Paulo: Gaspar Gasparian, German Lorca, Nelson Kojranski, José Yalenti, and Eduardo Salvatore. With their experimental approaches – using abstraction, reflections and unusual angles – they developed a distinctive visual language that closely aligned with international modernist movements. Many of the displayed works have been integrated into the collections of renowned institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York or the Tate Modern in London. The presentation at the Leica Gallery Frankfurtdemonstrates how Brazil’s modernist movement combined national themes with a global visual language – thereby opening up a new perspective on modernism and its transnational history.
German Lorca, No Desfile – Binóculos, ca.1960
© German Lorca
German Lorca, Antúrios, 1960
© German Lorca
Gaspar Gasparian, Mediúnico, 1952
© Gaspar Gasparian
Nelson Kojranski, Transpondo: Quadrados, 1950
© Nelson Kojranski / KobbiGallery