Forma: Brazil
dal 28/5/2001 al 29/6/2001
Segnalato da
28/5/2001
Forma: Brazil
The Americas Society, New York
The exhibition (May 29-July 29) will consist of site-specific installations by Iran do EspÃrito Santo and Rivane Neuenschwander, two of Brazil’s most promising artists. Although both artists work in very contemporary international visual languages, their concerns with issues of temporality and permanence, poetry and illusion, can be traced back to the formal innovations and experimental spirit of the 1940s and 1950s in Brazil.
The Americas Society is pleased to announce the second exhibition of
FORMA: BRAZIL, a five-month exploration of contemporary Brazil. Iran do
EspÃrito Santo and Rivane Neuenschwander will present installations in
The Americas Society gallery. Both artists create spare and ephemeral
works that recall not only American Minimalism, but also the innovative
and experimental art of the Concrete and Neo-Concrete movements in Brazil
in the 1950s and 1960s.
The work of Iran do EspÃrito Santo (b. 1963, Mococa, São Paulo) may be
characterized by a subtle shifting of the relationship between material
and object. By reproducing wood grain in paint on a gallery wall, or fusing
different types of glass to create the illusion of depths and recessions where
there are none, his work creates a discomfiting uncertainty about the status
and value of objects.
EspÃrito Santo has been included in InSite in San Diego
and Tijuana in 1997; the Venice Biennale in 1999; and No es sólo lo que ves:
Pervirtiendo el Minimalismo at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofÃa in
Madrid in 2000.
His most recent solo project in the United States took place at
The Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia last year. At The Americas Society, EspÃrito
Santo will combine a site-specific wall drawing with sculptural floor elements.
Gary Garrels has written that in the artist’s work, "experience is inextricably
linked to self-conscious processes of perception, the connection of the eye and
the mind seamlessly sealed but made evident".
Rivane Neuenschwander (b. 1967, Belo Horizonte) examines the passing of time,
whether through the traces of dust on Scotch tape that make minimal abstract
patterns, or garlic skins emptied over time. The centerpiece of Neuenschwander’s
exhibition at The Americas Society will be a labyrinth constructed of cardboard
boxes through which the visitor may walk and trace the linguistic play of a
crossword puzzle.
She will also present a new film work entitled World/Word.
Neuenschwander’s work has been seen at the São Paulo Bienal in 1998, Looking
for a Place at Site Santa Fe in 1999; and No es sólo lo que ves: Pervirtiendo
el Minimalismo at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofÃa in Madrid in 2000.
In an interview with Jens Hoffman, published in the brochure accompanying this
exhibition Neuenschwander states that her work presents "associations between
language, nature, and a state of temporality".
Forma: Brazil PROGRAMS
Thursday, May 24, 7:30 pm:
MUSICIANS ACCORD
An evening of contemporary Brazilian chamber music, including compositions by
Villa-Lobos, Gismonti, and others. Laura Kaminsky, Artistic Director; Kathleen
Nester, flute; Ted Mook, cello; and Amy Rubin, piano. For Ticket reservations
call 212.249.8950 x463.
Thursday, May 31, 6:30 pm:
Conversations on Contemporary Art
Conversations between Iran do EspÃrito Santo and John Paul Ricco, Assistant
Professor of Contemporary Art History, Theory, and Criticism, Texas Tech
University; and between Rivane Neuenschwander and Nico Israel, Assistant Professor,
Twentieth Century Comparative Literature, Critical Theory, and Visual Culture,
Hunter College, City University of New York. For information, or to reserve a seat,
call 212.249.8950, x383.
Forma: Brazil is a five-month series of art, literature, music, and policy
programs at The Americas Society.
Admission: members free; Gallery $3, students and seniors $2; Concerts $15,
students and seniors $10; Programs $5, students and seniors $3
The Americas Society Gallery is open 12–6 pm, closed Mondays and Holidays.
Photographs available.
For more information, please call 212.249.8950, x392, or e-mail the Gallery
at exhibitions@as-coa.org.
The Americas Society makes its programs accessible to people with disabilities.
Please call to make arrangements for special needs.
Forma: Brazil is made possible by Banco Itaú, Bankboston: a Fleetboston Financial
Company; and Marcos de Moraes. Additional support was provided by the Consulate
General of Brazil, New York, Varig Brazilian Airlines, and Artpace: a Foundation
for contemporary art, San Antonio.
Image: Rivane Neuenschwander, "Pertence. Não Pertence (Belongs. Does Not Belong.),
" 2000 (all rights reserved)
Opening Tuesday, May 29, 6:00-8:00 pm
The Americas Society
680 Park Avenue, New York City
contact: 212.249.8950