Independent Contemporary art Project, opens new exhibition
Continuing the series urbanities, which reaches its third edition, Kunsthalle St. Paul invites the artist Otavio Cury (* 1971 in São Paulo), to present his first solo exhibition, “Death of a rhino”.
Initially thought to be a facility in the public square, the project turned into a photo-novel that addresses issues of civility and politeness, to put the waste production as a key issue for society. The photo novel portrays a character – represented by the artist in a series of self-portraits – who lives with dozens of garbage bags in your house. These bags, whose contents remain unknown to the observer, occupy spaces of other human beings, both in the home and in feeling anguished character.
The book The Rhinoceros, a play written in the 50s to the theater of the absurd by Romanian Eugene Ionesco, appears in several of the photographs. In the book people in a French village start turning into rhinoceroses green, and everything is perfectly accepted. Relating the production of your trash with the text of Romanian essayist, the artist questions the current society, according Cury, was experiencing a reversal of core values such as solidarity and compassion.
In addition to the printed photos of photo novel, the exhibition brings an installation composed of garbage bags that obstruct vision and passing visitors at certain locations of the exhibition space.
Otavio Cury – Death of a rhino From 13 de Julho at August 11 Rua dos Pinheiros, 411 São Paulo www.kunsthallesaopaulo.com
Baró Gallery presents a Mexican and a Argentinian artists simultaneously
Mexican Felipe Ehrenberg occupies a large space of Baró Gallery with Apocalipstick, a exhibition of his most recent production which spans nearly four years of steady work. Five years after showing Manchuria, a retrospective covering a 50 year-long career, at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Ehrenberg once more leads visitors through “wild uncharted territory – a journey that explores the creative imagination of Mexico’s most rebellious, postmodern artist – without boundaries, limits, or clear definition.” His curious and jumbled cabinet includes artworks made with mobile phones imbedded in cement and concrete bas reliefs that eternalize Facebook’s fake smiles, montages mixing wooden pre-Columbian motifs and digital prints, approximating present and past. Cubic metres of earth collected from three different regions of São Paulo constitute a refined metaphor of property speculation. Highlighting the show is a life size metal detector portal made of recycled wood, which emits a shrill noise and demands rethinking security checks worldwide. It also includes drawings, mail art and his unique artist book.
At the same time, Baró Gallery brings Roberto Jacoby working with Alejandro Ros, important rock and pop graphic designer, to create the show Abertura [Oppening].In the exhibition, a sound installation, a video and several wall artworks invite to reflexion regarding the actual world, the contemporary arts and their paradoxes. The exhibition Abertura approaches the art market tensions and invites for reflection regarding the contemporary world. Jacoby and Ros dedicated a whole year to the conception and construction of the artworks, which are shown for the first time in this exhibition. There are seven new pieces made in different media and using several types of materials. Materials include from rocks to knives, wine glasses, mannequins, clocks, carpets and coffee cups. “We are very enthusiastic about showing these works in Brazil. All of them have been specially thought for this show. Moreover we took on board the space of Baró Gallery”, emphasises Jacoby.
Abertura and Apocalipstick From 3 August to 6 September Baró Gallery, rua Barra Funda, 216, São Paulo www.barogaleria.com
Anita Schwartz Gallery presents Abraham Palatnik
The exhibition from artist Abraham Palatnik, internationally recognized as a pioneer of kinetic art, will occupy the entire exhibition space of the gallery with works produced since the 1950s until today, most of them unpublished, because most of the ancient works have never been shown to the public. “Palatnik said it was essentially a painter. There is, therefore, one of the most pertinent issues in his work: to propose to the viewer that he stands before a painting without voiding the idea of sculpture, especially in cases of “Appliances kinechromatic” (produced from 1951) and “Kinetic objects “(produced from 1964). His work in orbit a limit, a fine line between these two media, “says art critic Felipe Scovino, who writes the text that accompanies the exhibition. Many of the works are unknown to the public, as a series of glass paintings of the 1950s. There will also be tables with objects in relief, in the 1960s, and works made with rope, produced between 1980 and 2000. Additionally, work will also be featured emblematic of the artist, as “Kinetic objects” and “progressions”. At age 85, still very active, Palatnik is producing four new works especially for this exhibition.
Abraham Palatnik at Anita Schwartz Gallery From 8 August to 13 September Rua José Roberto Macedo Soares, 30, Gávea – Rio de Janeiro www.anitaschwartz.com.br
Words: Douglas Negrisolli Photos courtesy of the galleries © 2013 Artlyst