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The In Vitro Rio installation arrives at the Nise da Silveira Institute, in Engenho de Dentro.
Published on 12/12/2025 - 14:12 | Updated
Mario Fraga's artwork will be inaugurated this Saturday in Boca Dona Ivone Lara. Photo: Press Release/SMS Mario Fraga's In Vitro installation opens on Saturday (December 13th) at 9 am at the Nise da Silveira Municipal Institute of Health Assistance. The artwork will form a corridor of colors and lights in homage to the physician Nise da Silveira and Dona Ivone Lara, who was a nurse and worked alongside the psychiatrist. The Museum of Images of the Unconscious once again opens its doors to culture and innovation, in a partnership between the Municipal Health Department and the Municipal Department of Conservation and Public Services.
Since 1989, artist and architect Mario Fraga has placed his graphic repertoire "inside" a sheet of glass, establishing a new language. The 27-meter-long, 2,40-meter-wide corridor can be viewed by spectators from different angles, and it is a new format that allows for different ways of exhibiting the paintings. The installation occupied the Botanical Garden and now enchants the Dona Ivone Lara Woods. Because it is a glass structure, the light that enters forms an illuminated corridor with the colors of the structure.
The artist, who previously exhibited his work in private spaces, discovered a great passion for public spaces and has created significant works in Brazil and abroad. The corridor-shaped installation allows for a curious phenomenon, as noted by the artist Mario Fraga:
"Painting has always been inside me, now I am inside it," he says.
The artist's connection to the museum's work is crowned with this installation – Mario Fraga was part of the board of directors of the Friends of the Museum of Images of the Unconscious Society for many years, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and now all residents of the surrounding area – physically, symbolically and emotionally – are invited to this celebration of art, creativity and affection.
The arrival of In Vitro at the Nise da Silveira Municipal Institute reaffirms the space's mission of articulating mental health, memory, art, and care. The installation, with its sensory and contemporary dimension, integrates with the Institute's tradition of valuing creative expression and art as a path to care, affection, and re-signification. These are values historically linked to the legacy of humanized psychiatry, the legacy of Dr. Nise da Silveira and Dona Ivone Lara, figures honored here.
Therefore, this is yet another opportunity to explore art and cultural expression. After the inauguration, the installation will be available for visits Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 17 pm, and on Saturdays, from 9 am to 16 pm. The Institute is located at Rua Ramiro Magalhães, 521, in Engenho de Dentro.
