Dr Michael Asbury

TrAIN Core Member - Senior Research Fellow

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I was born in Teresopolis, in the mountains of Rio de Janeiro, the son of British missionaries. After twenty years in Brazil I came to England to study engineering but fortunately to myself (and others) changed course and went on to complete an MA in The Study of Contemporary Art at Liverpool University and a PhD in the History and Theory of Art at The London Institute (now UAL). The former focused on British art and architecture in the post-war era, while the latter took me back to Brazil through the work of Hélio Oiticica and his relation to the development of modernism in Brazil and elsewhere.

I have since been attached to the very research centre where I undertook my PhD studies, working as a research fellow and expanding my range of interests. My research on Brazilian constructivism led me to be invited to join the curatorial team for ‘Century City: Art and the Modern Metropolis’, Tate Modern’s inaugural temporary exhibition in 2001, during which I also convened a conference entitled ‘Ideals of Modernity’ which focused on the ‘Rio de Janeiro 1950 – 1964’ section of that exhibition.

I have since been active both as a writer and curator, having written commissioned essays for inIVA/MIT, Liverpool University Press, Editora Perspectiva, Rodopi and Tate Publishing, amongst others, and contributed to exhibition catalogues for institutions such as Tate Modern, The Henry Moore Institute, Parasol Unit, and Documenta 12. Since 2005 I have worked as an exhibition programme consultant for the Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art in Nicosia, Cyprus, where I have curated exhibitions and co-edited books on the artists Antonio Manuel, Detanico & Lain and Anna Maria Maiolino. I have been invited to integrate the curatorial team for the forthcoming Prague Triennial of Contemporary Art which will open in June 2008.

I am currently co-editing a special issue of the journal Arte & Ensaios (Art & Essays) entitled Transnational Correspondence. This is the product of a collaborative project between TrAIN and the School of Fine Arts at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. A two-day conference at Tate Modern will mark the launch of the publication.

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Related Projects

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    Transnational Correspondence

    Transnational Correspondence is a collaboration between TrAIN and PPGAV, the centre for fine art research of the School of Fine Arts, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. It stems from ongoing research carried out by TrAIN Research Fellow Dr Michael Asbury into the comparative reception of Brazilian art at national and international levels.
    Find out more about Transnational Correspondence

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    Nation, Identity and Modernity

    Nation, Identity and Modernity, Visual Culture of India, Japan and Mexico, 1860s-1940 was funded by the AHRC (then AHRB) between 2001 and 2004. A collaboration between The University of Sussex and the University of the Arts London, this major research project was led by Professors Partha Mitter, Oriana Baddeley and Toshio Watanabe.
    Find out more about Nation, Identity and Modernity

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Related People

  • Suzana Vaz

    Current PhD - Body/mind practices and creative process. The Japanese Gutai group and the Brazilian Post-Neoconcrete artists

    My research consists of a comparative view between the work and creative processes of two avant-garde groups, whose activity developed contemporaneously from the 1950s to the 70s. The Gutai group in Japan and Post-Neoconcrete artists in Brazil have important affinities, namely the intent to use concrete experience to access creative potency, the absence of an artistic protocol, and the insertion of avant-garde procedures into a cultural background of transpersonal references.
    Find out more about Suzana Vaz