Cildo Meireles. Installations

Back
in the 1960s, Meireles was one of the first to experiment with multi-sensory
immersive installations that required the full involvement of the public. His
works address social and cultural issues, revealing their full meaning only
when they are walked through, involving not just sight but also hearing, touch,
smell and even taste. 

The
exhibition winds its way through a disorienting itinerary, with both monumental
and minuscule works that capture the viewer partly through the artist’s
indistinct use of materials. This is because Cildo Meireles chooses objects and
materials on the basis of their symbolic or sensory characteristics, combining
elements that contrast with each other in semantic or visual terms. 

The use of large
amounts of identical or similar objects to create new environments and visual
effects, with sound as a key element in the interaction between the works and
the public, and space as a fundamental component in emphasizing the paradoxes
and metaphors, are key elements of Cildo Meireles’s art, which is effectively
illustrated in the 12 installations on display at Pirelli HangarBicocca.