Source: Edward J. Sullivan (Ed.), Latin American Art in the Twentieth Century. New York: Phaidon, 2004, p. 220.
Art piece: Nelson Leirner (1932 - present): "Adoração: Altar de Roberto Carlos" (Adoration: Altar for Roberto Carlos, 1966.
Comment: The reference in the title of this work is to the famous Brazilian soccer player, Roberto Carlos. Leirner's works attack the fetishism that abounds in popular culture. In his works we find a lot of irony, sarcasm, social criticism. His means of producing such elements are collages, such as the one you see above, which is produced in mixed media. He lived in the United States from 1947 to 1952. He Since 1953, he has worked to remain in the vanguard of contemporary art in Brazil. In this regard, he has always been critical of the art establishment itself. In 1998, he produced works that were censured for immorality; and such censorship in turn caused a movement among Brazilian artists against censorship in the arts. In 2008, Nelson Leirner, along with a dozen more Brazilian artists, has been hired by Absolut Vodka to create a revisioning of this vodka brand's bottle and label by showing how Leirner himself views this brand. One of the goals of this campaign, which unites art with commerce and merchandizing, is to spread views of Brazilian culture.
Nelson Leirner on YouTube: There is a curious YouTube video of the artist in his studio working on the project for the subsidiary of Absolut Brazil: => YouTube.