Page 130 - ARTE!Brasileiros #37

ART VERSUS IGNORANCE ENGLISH VERSION

The perception and layout of the space within the museum’s with mirrors that close up the space, the octagon becomes,
building located at Avenida Tiradentes in São Paulo downtown in the words of the artist, “an open and infinite field” where
were completely changed by the artist, who challenges the space, sculptures and the visitors’ individual experiences
traditional and established ways of using the exhibition space. merge together, echoing in one single experience within the
The artist’s spatial concept in this exhibit reverts the route museum. Featured in this infinite space are the installation
that had been conventionally adopted by the museum: the Exit 3 - featuring an airplane ladder that takes nowhere - and
show starts at the museum’s original entrance designed by Carrossel para Duchamp (Carousel for Duchamp), 1997. “I see
Ramos de Azevedo (located on Avenida Tiradentes) and ends myself when I see the other”, she summarises.
at Parque da Luz. In other words, the public’s experience
begins at the artificial constructions of the city and ends 1 | EXIT III COM PAREDE NIEMEYER (ESTAÇÃO LUZ), 2016. STAINLESS STEEL, ALUMINUM,
at a space where nature shows its continuous process of RUBBER, CD PLAYER, MIRROR AND HEADPHONE
reconstruction. Another radical change adopted by the artist
is the incorporation of the museum’s side aisles to the main 2 | PAISAGEM E ARTIFÍCIO, VITÓRIAS RÉGIAS PARA O RIO COCÓ (I A XVI) (2013). FABRICS
exhibition space. AND WIRES, ACRYLIC, STAINLESS STEEL, NIOBIUM, PINK GOLD, COPPER, DIFFERENT
The usually peripheral and marginal aisles of the museum MEASUREMENTS
gain new importance with the work Parede para Loos (Wall
for Loos) in which the artist brings the facade of the Baker 3 | SINFONIA TROPICAL PARA LOOS II (2014)
House - designed by modernist architect Adolf Loos for the
home of Afro-American singer and dancer Josephine Baker 4 | DETAIL OF CHUVEIRO (SHOWER), 1987, CARBON STEEL, 250 CM X 200 CM X 30
- into the interior of the space. With this, the artist’s project CM DIAMETER, PRIVATE COLLECTION
seeks to reflect on the idea that Loos’ apparent architectural
purism in fact communicates power and voyeurism, the body No Mesmo Lugar: Uma Antologia de Ana Maria Tavares
turned into territory, shedding a light on themes such as November 19 through April 10, 2017
eugenics and colonialism. Although Adolf Loos was known Pinacoteca de São Paulo
for his aversion to all kinds of ornaments, the home designed Praça da Luz, 02, São Paulo, SP
for Josephine Baker (which was never actually built, nor is 55 11 3324-1000
it known whether it was ever commissioned by the singer)
displays black and white stripes on its facade - a reference HISTORY OF EXHIBITIONS 2 BIENNIAL OF HAVANA
nd
to her skin colour, to exotic patterning and also to the prison | PAGES 84 TO 86
uniforms typically worn by inmates. This somewhat hypnotic
where there are no right paths. Rather, it takes the public A BIENNIAL FOR
journey takes visitors through the museum’s peripheral routes
display in the video installation Sinfonia Tropical para Loos THE THIRD WORLD
through a fluid journey blended with nature’s patterns on
(Tropical Symphony for Loos).
The concept of labyrinth and the refusal to adopt chronological ARTE!Brasileiros PUBLISHES A SERIES OF ARTICLES ON
criteria in the installation is only part of the many aspects of HISTORICAL EVENTS IN LATIN AMERICA, HIGHLIGHTING THE CUBAN
Tavares’ exhibition. The show also incorporates discussions
that are in the core of the artist’s trajectory in recent decades ART SHOW THAT CHANGED PARADIGMS IN CONTEMPORARY ART
as, for example, her critical review of modernist architecture,
the creation of objects that challenge the lines between art BY JUAN JOSÉ SANTOS
and design, the construction of interactive objects for the
human body - which the artist calls “architecture prostheses” -; “DURING 1984, while returning the works of the first
or the parallels between handcrafted and industrial artefacts, Biennial, I dedicated myself to studying the phenomenon
says the curator for the exhibition, Fernanda Pitta. of the Biennials in the world. And I read everything that
Among the 160 works and extensive documentation, the had been written about art in international publications.
exhibition also brings never seen before and rarely seen This research led me to two conclusions: one, that we had
artworks. The work Um Jardim para Burle Marx (A Garden for to give to this event, which had been known as biennial,
Burle Marx) was created in 2013 in collaboration with artisans a different structure of those that already existed in the
from Fortaleza (northeast Brazil). In this artwork, Tavares world, such as Venice and São Paulo that set paradigms,
discusses the idea of a black, grey and white garden as an but had strategies that did not fit to what I thought should
immense collective sculpture. A revamped version of the work be the goal in Havana. And the other conclusion was that
Tapetes Negros para Paredes Brancas (Black Carpets for White nor these events nor the international publications were
Walls), which was part of the artist’s first solo exhibit in 1981, considering what was going on in Africa, in the Middle East
is brought back to the public in this anthological exhibition. and in Asia, where arts were concerned, and they were also
Ana Maria Tavares’ exhibition inflames the debate between not interested in Latin American artists living in their own
artwork, space and the individual, in a continuous process countries. Those regions only appeared in references of
that involves seduction, critic and elegant sarcasm. It also tribal and traditional arts. As for Latin America, important
translates the artist’s refusal to separate artworks from their artists were generally those who build a career in Paris. I
innate concepts, and her desire to avoid reducing them into considered that my niche was in the creation of a space to
mere resemblance of what they were someday. This desire for give visibility to artists of those regions, to which nobody
reinvention is made evident with Tavares’ installation created was giving importance then. I had to create a expository
for the museum’s central room - the octagon. She subverts the structure for this purpose.” “It was a gigantic Salon des
identity of this magnificent area of the museum and transforms Refusés of the world. It fostered the future birth of what
it into a place for “radical speculative reflection.” Covered Rafal Niemojewski (director of the Biennial Foundation)

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