2e1 was established in 2010 by Carolina Paz. It initially offered study groups and mentoring programs for artistic projects. The creation of 2e1 was guided by an idea, a desire to socialize and generate knowledge related to contemporary artistic practices.

In 2012, 2e1 presented its first exhibition and the "Fachada" (Façade) project, in which several artists were able to experiment with their ideas and share their creative processes.

Since 2013, 2e1 has worked with artists, critics, and curators from various cities in Brazil and around the world.

Several special projects were created, such as the artistic residency “Nômade 2e1” (Nomad 2e1) and the international art exchange program “In the care of…” Also in 2013, the in-depth training program in visual arts called “Vitamina” (Vitamin) was initiated, offering courses in Sound Art, Painting, Career Management, Art History, Installation, and Performance.

Photo: Cristina Suzuki, Val Schneider, José Bento Ferreira, Carolina Paz, Renata Huber, Sheila Ortega, and Juvêncio Vilhena on an Adobe Connect meeting in 2014.

Concluded in 2014, the “Vitamina” project was responsible for implementing synchronous and asynchronous distance education tools. These tools made it possible for artists located in different regions of Brazil and worldwide to access the content and discussions generated in the in-person meetings.

Coletivo 2e1 became a network of practice, experimentation, coexistence, and creation of knowledge in visual arts.

Photo: Lara Perl’s open studio invitation at our first studio space in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY

We moved to New York in 2018. At the time, 2e1 was still a valid format, so we wanted to preserve it. We decided not to adapt it but to keep it as a document, a digital archive, and created Uncool Artist.

Initially, it functioned as a newsletter, a blog, and a YouTube channel. Uncool Artist debuted with an email about letters that featured Sol Lewitt and Eva Hesse in the first week of September 2018.

We offered free classes, organized an artist residency, strengthened connections that we had brought from São Paulo, and began to form a new community.

In early 2019, we launched our first 100% online courses as Uncool Artist: Ser Artista Hoje; Lygia Clark, Uma Poética Viva; Paulo Freire e A Práxis Artística; Escrever É Preciso; A Arte que Fazemos Na América Latina; Espinosa e a Filosofia do Afeto.

In an overwhelming year for all humanity, we sought to become stronger and more united. The number of  participants in our projects grew.

We:

- Offered free training in creative distance learning with the Corpo Ensinante (Teaching Body) course

- Launched our training program in art, ILAP (in Portuguese)

- Launched our first online exhibition space at Clube da Uncool

Now ILAP speaks English and runs in parallel with its Portuguese language version.

For DO write [right] to me, Uncool Artist invited artists from its community (U.S. and Latin America) to think through their artworks about the idea of remote communication, asking questions, proposing action, reflection, and dialogue.

The result was exhibitions in Chelsea (NYC, NY) and Miami Art Week (Design District, MIA, FL)  that spoke to our time by interrogating wholeness, remoteness, isolation, and the use of technology to maintain human connection, while reviving the Mail Art network that was extremely important during the 60s and 70s in Latin America.

At the end of the pandemic, we reopened and expanded our artist residency project in NYC in 2022.

The DO write [right] to me, went to São Paulo. We had a blast!

10 artists from our community produced the installation circuit "FOR A CEILING OF OUR OWN" in an incredible project by Uncool Artist carried out on the shores of Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro.

We started 2023 acquiring a new space, hosting up to six artists in our residency program.

In a few weeks we will officially open our own social network for our participants! 🙂