While the status of artists was harshly affected by the censorship and persecution of intellectuals by the military regime installed in 1964, members of Grupo Ruptura continually sought to position themselves within an international art dialogue. Lauand’s association in the late 1960s with a movement termed ‘Popcreto’ by the São Paulo artists, identifying an exchange between international Pop and local Concretism, reflects her responsiveness to international directions in art. Her figurative and text-based works from this period utilise the wordplay of Concrete poetry and a new visual language of Pop art, offering an avenue to explore themes of gender and political violence.

Até a morte [Until Death] (1969) is an essential example from this period. It incorporates the wordplay of Concrete poetry; the suspended text can be reconfigured into multiple phrases around the words ‘amor [love]’ and ‘morte [death].’ In an image both sinister and passionate, the female figure is radiant, her hair like a flame, held by the strong grip of her male counterpart.

This piece was first exhibited at the 10th São Paulo Biennial (1969), boycotted by many countries opposed to Brazil’s military dictatorship. In choosing to exhibit on this occasion, Lauand positioned herself amongst a younger generation of female artists encouraging conversations on censorship and on the social conditions of women in Latin America. This period of Lauand’s work also reflects a perpetual revision of the visual language of Concretism that continued to define her work throughout her lengthy career.