Untitled

“Iberê’s large-canvas works from this period, deal with questions of scale. [...]
Some smaller pictures accompany these larger canvases, such as the thick gouaches, in which the question of scale does not arise. Works like Mulher e manequim (Woman and Mannequin) of 1991 and the various Idiotas (Idiots) drawings for example, use smaller supports, yet the strong impact of these works comes from the obsessive investigation involved in the process of production, and in Iberê’s inventive strength, noticeable in his mastery of the paint media (continued in his gouaches and drawings). A look at the chromatic lexicon used in these works, brings to light the conventions mentioned by Foster. The violet colours covering those almost atrophic bodies relate to the colours of death, the earth colours to the earth itself that will cover them, the reddened skies to the light of the sunset, and together may relate to the extreme moment of life and its inherent solitude, essential features in the artist’s work.”
Mônica Zielinsky, "A inquietude da arte," in Mônica Zielinsky, Paulo Sergio Duarte and Sônia Salztein, Moderno no limite (Porto Alegre: Fundação Iberê Camargo, 2008) 120-121.