Luisa Lambri
dal 9/2/2009 al 10/3/2009
Segnalato da
9/2/2009
Luisa Lambri
Gallery 32, London
In celebration of Oscar Niemeyer. The show will bring together a previously unseen selection of photographs taken in Brazil. Far from documenting it, Lambri proposes a more personal recording of architecture, using photography to redefine the ways we physically and mentally experience space.
In celebration of Oscar Niemeyer, the Embassy of Brazil in association with Thomas
Dane Gallery, is pleased to announce an exhibition of Italian artist Luisa Lambri.
The show will bring together a previously unseen selection of Lambri’s photographs
taken in Brazil. Far from documenting it, Lambri proposes a more personal recording
of architecture, using photography to redefine the ways we physically and mentally
experience space.
In early 2003 Lambri spent two months photographing various buildings by Niemeyer in
Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, São Paulo and Brasília. She went upon the invitation
of Brazilian curator Adriano Pedrosa, on behalf of the Coleção Teixeira de Freitas,
Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon.
Having been drawn to the geometry and formal details of modernist interiors, the
artist recalls being compelled by Niemeyer’s uniquely sensual approach to his
materials. She was interested in the way Niemeyer was able to open up and distort
the orthogonal modernist grid structure by introducing feminine, curved lines.
Through her photographs, Lambri wanted to articulate the dialogue that Niemeyer sets
up between architecture and nature.
Included in the exhibition are photographs of ‘Casa das Canoas’, Niemeyer’s own home
built in Rio de Janeiro in 1953, known locally as ‘the architect’s house’. Lambri
returned to the house many times to photograph it. The resulting understanding of
the building is revealed in her paired images of the covered patio and the way in
which the dense tropical garden encroaches into the space.
During her trip Lambri also photographed ‘Casa do Baile’, a dance hall in Belo
Horizonte built by Niemeyer in 1942. Her three photographs of the outdoor terrace of
‘Casa do Baile’ look out across the water - the straight, centred horizon line in
the distance, punctuated by cylindrical columns, dramatizes the heady optical effect
created by the undulating concrete structure that skirts the water. Often working in
series and recording minute changes, or editing the framing of each image slightly,
Lambri requires the viewer to look closely and carefully to see subtle differences.
Similarly in this group, the movement of the clouds, the shifting shadow on the
ground and the faint billow of smoke in the distance track the passing of time.
Born in Como in 1969, Lambri studied Literature and Philosophy at the University of
Milan. She currently lives in Milan. Her work has been exhibited in dAPERTutto, 48th
Venice Biennial, 1999, Dreams and Conflicts: The Viewer's Dictatorship, 50th Venice
Biennial, 2003, Made Up: the Liverpool Biennial, 2008, and Italics: Italian Art
between Tradition and Revolution 1968-2008, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, 2008. Solo
exhibitions include the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Carnegie Museum of Arts, The
Menil Collection in Houston and Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge. A solo exhibition at the
Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles is scheduled for September 2009.
Currently, Lambri has a solo show at Luhring Augustine, New York.
Image: Casa das Canoas 12 and Casa das Canoas 13, 2003, laserchrome print, 99 x 115 cm
Opening Reception Tuesday 10 February, 6-8pm
Gallery 32
32 Green Street - Londo
Tuesday to Friday, 11am to 6pm Saturday, 11am to 5pm
Free admission