Estação Pinacoteca, Art museum in downtown São Paulo, Brazil.
Estação Pinacoteca is an art museum in the Luz neighborhood of São Paulo, housed in a former industrial building from the early 20th century. The building has several exhibition floors and also contains the Walter Wey Library, a documentation center dedicated to Brazilian art history.
Designed by the office of Ramos de Azevedo, the building was begun in 1908 and opened in 1914 as the headquarters and terminal station of the Sorocabana Railway, with a facade of exposed ceramic bricks largely imported from England and Germany. After a new São Paulo station opened in the 1930s it became an administrative seat, and in 1942 it was turned over to the political police, the Deops. It housed the Deops during the military dictatorship and later a consumer protection police station until 2002, when it was incorporated into the Pinacoteca do Estado.
The Estação Pinacoteca focuses on Brazilian art from the 20th century and welcomes visitors through rotating shows by contemporary artists. The wide, light-filled rooms of the old industrial building give the works plenty of space and make viewing feel calm and unhurried.
The building stands at Largo General Osório 66 in Santa Ifigênia, next to Sala São Paulo and Júlio Prestes station, so it is easily reached on foot from Luz. The Pinacoteca do Estado has managed the site since 2002, and the Associação Pinacoteca Arte e Cultura has run it since 2006. The building is listed as a protected landmark and is shared with the Memorial da Resistência.
The museum has a dedicated gallery preserving artworks and memories from the resistance against Brazil's military dictatorship. This collection is one of the few in Brazil that openly focuses on artistic activism from that period.
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