By Oscar Niemeyer Museum
Visual Arts
This exhibition represents the first segment of the Light ≅ Matter project. This project, which gathers a selection of works belonging to our museum, distances itself from the conventional way in which the collections are exhibited, the gathering of works by schools and artistic groups from chronological criteria. In contrast, Light ≅ Matter teaches us that there are infinite ways of approaching works of art, as well as any objects, or even the relevant events scattered throughout our lives. By: Agnaldo Farias
Light brings works from artists that lived in very distinct times, produced works that were different from each other but nonetheless had light as common denominator. A fascination that goes back to the painting of Da Vinci; to our ancestor who, with a drawing in a cave wall, made visible a scene or an animal. By: Agnaldo Farias
Rita Fialek - Cruz Machado Series (1949) by Orlando AzevedoOscar Niemeyer Museum
The journeys undertaken by the photographer Orlando Azevedo in Brazil resulted in series that show the physical and human geography of a country that is still unknown to many. In the series "Expedition to the Heart of Paraná", the State where he lives is revealed by the camera lenses. Part of this series is the photograph "Cruz Machado Series - Rita Fialek", in which he shows a girl from the old colony of Cruz Machado in festive Polish costumes.
w-636 (2014) by Abraham PalatnikOscar Niemeyer Museum
Research on the movement gives structure to Abraham Palatinik's artistic work since he started producing, in the 1940's. In this long-term investigation of cinetism, Palatnik moves between bidimensional and tridimensional, with many studies in the filed of pictorics, as well as creating machines and design pieces. His trajectory synthesizes methodological rigor and aesthetic extravagance, fruits of his Mechanical engineering background and appreciation for artisanal work. His piece 'W-6336' is part of W Series, in which laser cut wooden slats painted in acrylic create delightfully varied visual rhythms.
The Star Eater (1999) by Gilvan SamicoOscar Niemeyer Museum
The work of Gilvan Samico is marked by the influence of cordel literature, especially by the use of woodcut portraying religious, mythological, folkloric and northeastern culture themes, always emphasizing the symmetry and restricted use of colors. This production made him one of the greatest representatives of the Armorial Movement, which emerged in the Northeast in the 1970's.
In "The Star Eater" the artist presents two paintings: in the upper part, the serpent is about to devour a star while it is attacked by a group of eagles...
...in the lower one, flanked by the two trees of Eden, again the serpent is interrupted in its malicious intention.
The sign of similar, not equal, of Light = Matter, inspired by Einstein's famous equation (E=mc2), points out that these terms are not opposites. Despite the intangible nature of light and the more or less emphatic embodiment of matter, both are intertwined. After all, light is born to our eyes as an exhalation of things, a kind of aroma, while the matter that constitutes things shines in the darkness when it is awakened by it. By: Agnaldo Farias
Guayasamín's work draws attention, subtly, to the dramas of humanity, especially to those of the Latin American people, whose face is suffering and hands twisted by violence, poverty, dictatorships and not always explicit forms of control. What he saw in his travels in Latin America was a tempered and shy personality that he portrayed as a expressionist in his paintings. Within this same perspective, he created a series called "Tenderness" between late 1980's and late 1990's, composed of several paintings of mothers and children. "Mother with Child" is a tribute to the mother of the artist and to all the mothers of the world.
Coconut Plantation (1930/1996) by Dorothea WiedemannOscar Niemeyer Museum
Record Radio, Old Headquarters (2010) by Juan EstevesOscar Niemeyer Museum
Juan Esteves' experience as a photojournalist in several newspapers and magazines was his school. The photograph "Record Radio, Old Headquarters" (2010), is part of a series that aims to record the architecture in the historical center of São Paulo. Photographs that although current often resemble old ones due to the photographer's treatment of them, removing contemporary urban interference such as post wires. Record Radio's former headquarters were in the Tereza Toledo Lara Palace, built in 1910 and located on Rua Quintino Bocaiuva, between Rua Direita and Rua José Bonifácio. The radio was based there in the 1940's and 1950's.
Painting #1 (1933) by Mario RubinskiOscar Niemeyer Museum
Light ≅ Matter
Curatorship: Agnaldo Farias
Promotion: Oscar Niemeyer Museum
Room: 6