Page 93 - ARTE!Brasileiros #46

also linked to the origin of the couple, who began working together in the area of The social body; Mutable identities; Reimagined landscape; Impossible objects; and
graphic design, especially with technology, in the late 90’s. the Reinvention of monochrome. But such segmentation is quite porous, as the
In the mezzanine, the artists explain the will to work using the architecture of the curators say already in the presentation. Thus, the same work is often linked to
space in the construction of the landscape: on one side the clouds, opposite to the more than one core and often serves as a driving element between one and the
box. On the floor, the installation Salt Wave (2010), being a figure formed by the other. This is the case, for example, of the sculpture/installation in marble of Laura
word “wave”, written in a code created by the duo: “A large part of our creation Vinci, that makes a smooth transition between the block dedicated to the landscape
concerns the development of new typographies. We are very interested in the and the one that presents / displays a series of investigations on the monochrome.
alphabets, the different forms of writing in the world”. The geometry of the letters This segment dedicated to works that explore the power of color not in its diversity,
in this alphabet creates different modulations for the wave. but in its purest formal essence, is one of the most interesting of the exhibition.
In another wall, the public faces the 28 Moons (2014), a video installation where And not only because it brings together important works by quite different authors,
the figure is formed by the text (as in Ulysses). In the case, the figure of a moon is such as Rosangela Rennó and Antonio Manuel. But also because it seems subtly
constructed by Galileo Galilei’s text the first time he observed the satellite, each to indicate that the attempt to associate Brazilian art with the generous and
of the twenty-eight minutes by which the video extends forms a state of the moon abundant use of colors would reiterate stereotypes and that one must look at
every 28 days of its variation during a cycle. Another experience with the moon the most different aspects of an art research without reducing the researches
awaits the audience in the basement: Lunar maria (2018) is a video installation that to a single central reason such as conceptual research or political engagement.
reflects on fabrics composed of garden stones the name of the seas present on the Curiously, this nucleus brings together the largest number of abstract works of the
satellite, such as Sea of Tranquility and Sea of Islands. Light falls on positions of show, indicating that the separation between figuration and abstraction - which
letters, like a drop, also in a code, forming the words and opening through the screens. marked the history of the museum in its early days - has lost its relevance today.
To bring a reflection on contemporary issues involving a geopolitical spectrum, The identity notion, when thought broadly, seems to be the one that stands out
Detanico Lain found it pertinent that the work White Noise (2006), which premiered the most in the selection and constitutes a central element to think contemporary
during the Venice Biennale, was included in the exhibition. Closing the course of 14 production. Whether in the use of the body as an element of creation, or in a
works, several satellite images of a space of the Amazon Forest are placed in layers, reinvention/investigation of the landscape as a place of synthesis of an idea of
this gradually gains intrusions of a white, being erased continuously, referring to nationality that always escapes through the fingers. It is interesting to note how it
the problems of deforestation and climatic issues: “If in 2006 this was important...”, is present in the most distinct investigations. There’s a strong presence of works
Angela starts. “Now that’s urgent”, Rafael completes.
that depart from the representation or investigation of the human body as an
element of creation, such as the series of videos by Lenora de Barros about the
artist’s image, the touching feet with sores recreated by Efraim Almeida or even in
EXHIBITION SÃO PAULO | PAGES 60 AND 61 the already classic work 50 Hours, Autorretrato Roubado, by Rochelle Costi made
CONNECTIONS AT in the early 1990’s. But identity reflection is also present in another type of plastic

MAM'S COLLECTION investigation, as in the ironic installation Cortina de Vento - which plays with the
stereotype of the Brazilian landscape as a tropical paradise filled with coconut
EXHIBITION THAT WAS PRESENTED AT THE PHOENIX ART MUSEUM IS palms - or even in the iconic series of postcards where Anna Bella Geiger contrasts
BROUGHT TO THE INSTITUTION IN SÃO PAULO images of Indians and Westerners, showing how fragile and thought-provoking is
the native vs. foreign opposition.
BY MARIA HIRSZMAN With works created mostly in the 1990’s and 2000’s, the exhibition carefully mixes
works already well-known to the public and lesser-known productions, enabling
PAST/FUTURE/PRESENT, exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo, is more pleasant re-encounters or new surprises. In this relationship between greater
than a commemorative exhibition. Conceived amid the celebrations of 70 years and lesser visibility, another question is suggested that seems interesting to take
of creation of the museum and originally created two years ago to present the into account: the relation of mutual dependence between artists and museums
institution collection for the public of Atlanta (it is worth noting that it was the and a diminution of the own capacity of institutions like the MAM to expand their
first exhibition of the MAM in North American territory), the selection offers an collections. There are several ways in which the collection can be seen, but - as you
interesting opportunity to enjoy and reflect on important aspects of contemporary can see on the identification labels - the importance of donations, whether made
Brazilian art. by companies, collectors or by the artist himself, is unquestionable.
The criterion adopted by the curators Cauê Alves and Vanessa Davidson is neither Confirming this feeling, is the exhibition that the museum dedicates to the new
chronological nor thematic. The 72 works selected for the Brazilian version, which acquisitions of its collection, that can be seen in the Paulo Figueiredo Room. It is
occupy the main hall of the museum until April 21, were not chosen with the purpose clear how increasingly partnerships are fundamental to expanding the capacity
of narrating or illustrating an official history of the national art nor presenting a of museums and filling the gaps of their collection.
particular trajectory of the collection. The plastic, conceptual or poetic power of
the work, as well as its ability to connect with other parts of the selection, seem
to have been the most important criteria of choice. This is already evident in EXHIBITION SÃO PAULO | PAGES 62 TO 64
panel, which recreates with hundreds of yellow pencils, the perspective image of a PORTRAIT OF PAUL KLEE
the first work, “Notes on a Burning Scene”, by José Damasceno. This seductive
silhouette watching a screen, immediately arouses the sympathy of the public, as WHEN IN BALANCE
witness the frequent smile on the physiognomy of the visitors. Apprehension and
formal creativity, capacity for synthesis and appropriation of unusual materials SHOW IN THE CENTRO CULTURAL BANCO DO BRASIL IN SÃO PAULO
and procedures are among the preponderant aspects of this work and that echo EXPLAINS THE GENIUS OF THE SWISS ARTIST
throughout the exhibition.
As an organizing structure, the exhibition is subdivided into five blocks: The body/ BY MARIA HIRSZMAN

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