Cildo Meireles at Inhotim

You will be surprised by the sheer size of the Inhotim Institute, the splendor of its gardens, and the variety of contemporary artworks in its collection. In view of the number of works of varying size and substance within the space, we invite you to come and experience this exhibition, which focuses on the role of scale in the work of Cildo Meireles (Rio de Janeiro, 1948). He is one of the most important contemporary artists active today. His pieces often work with—and question—measuring devices, collections, and the idea of circuits. Inspired by the artist's inquisitive attitude, we offer you a journey that takes you from one of his smallest pieces to one of the largest and oldest sculptures in our gardens.

The journey begins with a work that is tiny in size, but that has huge sentimental value for the artist. "Camelô" (Street Vendor), produced in 1998, stands in an illuminated corner of the room. At less than 10 centimeters tall, you'll need to bend down to see this piece in which Cildo Meireles revives a childhood memory of accompanying his father on trips to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). You can make out a moving figure which, like the vendors in the city center, invites the viewer to come closer and take a look.The street vendors, with their trays full of small, ordinary items like pins and shirt collar bones, intrigued Cildo Meireles.

Your journey through Cildo Meireles's works on display at Inhotim will bring you to one of the major themes in the artist's work: circulation. The next 2 pieces show Meireles's approach to the things we use to measure value, namely coins and banknotes. Their use is so widespread that they span all social classes. Small objects with a wide reach are viewed as opportunities to spread information or critical messages throughout society.

There are currently 3 large installations permanently on display in the Cildo Meireles Gallery at the Inhotim Institute. We could think of these 3 artworks as 3 collections of various sized objects that have been organized unexpectedly. The installations offer up various sensations, inviting the viewer to move around in order to experience the pieces. In this gallery, you can find "Glove Trotter," "Desvio para o vermelho" (Red Shift), and "Através" (Through).

If, in the previous piece, Meireles invites you to become aware of the infinite space spreading out across the floor, in "Desvio para o vermelho" (Red Shift), from 1967–1984, the artist invites you into a living room permeated entirely with the color red. Here, the notion of collection is created by the number of items concentrated in the space. Furniture, ornaments, household goods, and works of art. Can you find a piece by Cildo Meireles in this room?

In "Através" (Through), from 1983–1989, the way objects are organized produces an unexpected mixture of barriers and everyday objects. In this installation, the viewer will find their way blocked both by small objects, like shards of glass, and by obstacles that are many times larger than the human body itself.

The final piece on this journey is "Inmensa" (Immense), from 1982–2002. It is a huge steel structure in which increasingly larger objects balance on top of increasingly smaller ones in the middle of the huge garden at the Inhotim Institute.