Page 128 - ARTE!Brasileiros #37

ART VERSUS IGNORANCE ENGLISH VERSION

EXHIBITION SÃO PAULO | PAGES 74 TO 76 A photograph stands out by a window. In it, Von Ha emulates
the iconic image that shows Jackson Pollock sprinkling paint
WHO IS GUSTAVO VON HA? on the surface of a large canvas. “When I tried to stage this
famous scene, I realized that doing this picture involved a lot
of production. Of course that this was a photograph that had
OPEN AT MAC-USP, SP ARTIST’S EXHIBITION CHALLENGES THE been commissioned for a magazine, yet, we think it was a
CONCEPT OF ORIGINALITY AND PROMOTES A CRITIQUE OF THE ART spontaneous shooting that captured a unique moment among
SYSTEM WITH A CERTAIN TONE OF SARCASM many captured by the photographer. But I realized that it was
not so. Pollock even posed for it, the light in the picture is
totally unlikely. So the truth is that this photo was acted out,
BY MARIANA TESSITORE at that time. It took more than ten hours to capture that image.
That is, to speak of a supposed originality in 2016 is totally
A FOREIGN ARTIST LIVING IN BRAZIL, Gustavo Von Ha inconsistent,” says the artist.
stood out for his originality. He has participated in numerous This photograph is one of the elements that lead the public to
exhibitions including one of the first Biennial editions in the distrust what they see, or, as the curator points out: “The idea
1950s. His work became prominent when he began to produce is that people are swallowed up into this delusion. And then
paintings on large canvas. Award winner, he embodies the based on some signs, they can realize that there is something
image of the marginal artist whose very unique production strange. The intention is that the viewer goes back to the first
has never been limited to a particular art movement. exhibition room saying, I think I cannot trust what I see here.
Dear reader, the character described above is fictional. It is “There is therefore a kind of element of suspense that brings
precisely this process of invention of an artist, the “fetishization” up the question: “But who is actually Gustavo von Ha?”. The
of his image that is discussed in the show Inventory: Another third and last rooms display documents, photographs, books
Art on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art of USP. In and notebooks that refer to this fictional universe of the artist’s
this exhibition, the real Gustavo Von Ha, São Paulo artist, 39 life, causing an increasing sense of confusion in the public.
years old, creates a homonym that represents a sum of the There is, however, a central work in which the irony of the show
stereotypes associated with art. The curator of the show, Ana is evident: a video. Entitled, Atravessado pelo Tempo (Crossed
Avelar explains that the exhibition creates a “clone of Gustavo by Time), the video is an account of the supposed trajectory of
who would be the sum of many clichés associated with artists the artist - as described in the first paragraph of text - based
that are celebrated in art history.” on comments by experts as Tadeu Chiarelli and Maria Alice
More than 70 recent works are gathered for the show including Milliet. The curator points out the importance of this work:
paintings, videos, photos and objects. These are never seen “The video feels very true. Primarily because Gustavo was able
before works. However, these are not “original” works as one to convince these experts to participate. And they all discuss
of Von Ha’s intents is precisely to question the concept of works or scripts that were designed by him.”
originality: “All our training in art consists on learning how to The artist’s performance for the show is a key moment of the
copy, imitate”, he says. This polemic subject has been brought exhibit, which leads the artist to associate the exhibition to a
up by the artist in previous exhibits that showcase, for example, performance: “What is being done today, and I include myself
objects created from copies of drawings by artists Tarsila do in this, is a great playact. People simulate many things, they
Amaral and José Leonilson and also in the project Heist Films are characters. And in the film I question this: why does the
Entertainment, a fictional film production company dedicated artist have to be this way? Where are we going? Everything
to create trailers for movies that do not exist. In Inventory, Von is already known, tradition feels like a very safe place to be.
Ha makes reference to abstract expressionism, a movement In this sense, the art system is a just a great act-out. This
that is best represented by the figure of American painter exhibition is a very political work because it denounces all this
Jackson Pollock. According to the curator, this art movement mechanism,” he says.
was chosen for this exhibit due to its impact on art history: Criticism is catalysed within the museum itself, which
“Gestural painting marks the moment when the Capital of emphasizes the meta-language essence of the show: “The
Arts moved from Paris to New York, at the end of World War exhibition takes place within a museum, but it subverts the
II. From that moment on, the entire art system is profoundly entire institution. Everything from the technical files to the
transformed. Very powerful museums and galleries were location of the works on display”, says Von Ha. This subversion
founded back then and we see the beginning of the formation within the museum also points to self-criticism: “Challenging
of the art system that we have today”. this art system is a complex task because we are also part of
The exhibition is embedded with sharp criticism to this art it. He is an artist, I am a curator. But this is about questioning
system, which had its beginning in the 1950s. In the first why this structure still stands when we have already unravelled
room visited during the show, the artist presents a series of the entire system,” says Avelar.
small intimate paintings. “It is the first step of this illusion,
the creation of an artist who begins his career working with 1 | PROCEDIMENTOS DRIPPINGS II, GUSTAVO VON HA. EXHIBITED AT MAC, THE ARTIST
easel painting,” says Von Ha. The exhibition layout makes ENACTS THE ICONIC PHOTO OF PAINTER JACKSON POLLOCK, PUBLISHED IN 1949, IN
reference to revered modernist museums such as the MoMA, LIFE MAGAZINE
in which the spatial concept of a white cube predominates.
The next space represents the second phase of the character, 2 | NÃO PINTURA 04, (2015), GUSTAVO VON HA. OIL ON CANVAS
which joins the abstract American expressionism with large
canvas that facilitates gestural painting. There are also display Inventário: Arte Outra
cases containing objects created by the artist, among other Open through February 5, 2017
paraphernalia that refer to the cliché concept of the artist “as Museu de Arte Contemporânea da USP
a worker, a highly committed person who is always studying Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, 1.301 - São Paulo-SP, Brasil
and always creating”, says Von Ha. 55 11 2648-0254

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