"International Platform of Brazilian Contemporary Art"
2006-05-13 until 2006-05-21
TAC - Temporary Art Centre
Eindoven, , NL Netherlands

Any attempt to identify Brazil’s essence invariably results in clichés betraying one’s original purpose – to do justice to an authenticity which cannot be captured in one single statement. There no such thing as a unique Brazilian identity. What we find instead is a manifold collection of scenarios formed by countless realities through which similarities arise and can be identified. This is a A collaboration between Brazilian Institute for Visual Arts (biVA, Brussels) & PR Brazilian Fine Art (Eindhoven). This remark also applies to Brazilian contemporary art. In the 1920’s the nature of this art was typecast as anthropophagy. It was described as a form of ‘cannibalism’ which emerged through the absorption and the processing of national and foreign influences.

One could even claim that there was a wilful Brazilian digestion at work. Time and again certain juices were sucked in and took part in the fermenting process. Yet, although these juices could be recognised at a later stage in the artistic artefacts, they are insufficient to define the uniqueness of the art.

This process of fermentation and digestion has carried on till present times, as is illustrated by the wide representation of Brazilian artists in the world of contemporary art.

In the past decades, a growing number of Brazilian artists have become active overseas. Sometimes called the ‘Brazilian Diaspora’, they embody a process in which the singularity of their identity is preserved, in a recognisable yet ungraspable way. The artists featured in this exhibition also drift like nomads, not only from a geographical point of view but through their genres as well. They move physically and mentally between Brazil and places like London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, Madrid, while their artistic forms of expression oscillate between various disciplines. Their ‘identity’ can no longer be linked to their nationality. Instead it is the temporary result of their life experience and personal choices. The Brazilian mobile generation addresses issues such as globalisation versus regionalisation, urbanisation and tradition, identity and origins, appearance and reality, centre and periphery, cannibalism and digestion.

The Antropophagic Manifesto saw ‘Tupí or not Tupí’ as the main challenge defying Brazilian art. As a matter of fact, it was also the vital question facing the Tupí Indians centuries ago when, like so many others, they suddenly found themselves confronted with immigrants arriving from Europe, Africa and Asia. Nowadays Brazilians overseas are the ones dealing with this type of challenge. Brazil is an idea asking for the issue around its very nature to be processed. The mobility and the nomadic experiences of the young generation add new dimensions to it and make it more complex. Thanks in part to its diasporal artists Brazil has grown into a kaleidoscopic structure that is weaving itself in an increasingly refined fashion into the multiple scenarios of our globalised world. Govert DERIX – Maastricht 2006.

Adriana PASTORI (São Paulo); Alex VALLE (Brussels); Celio BRAGA (Amsterdam); Christina OITICICA (St. Martin); Claudia MEDEIROS CARDOSO (Bremen); Claudio GOULART ; Clotilde LAINSCEK (São Paulo); Cristina CAMARA (Paris); Evany FANZERES (London); Flavio PONS (Amsterdam); Giacomo PICCA (London); Jacqueline MACHADO DE SOUZA (Maastricht); Laone LOPES (Brussels) ; Laurent ACHEDJIAN (Brussels); Lucio CARVALHO (São Paulo); Marcia THOMPSON (London); Natasha BARRICELLI (São Paulo); Paola JUNQUEIRA (Geneve); Roberto LACERDA (Rio de Janeiro); Sérgio LEMOS (Brussels)

Alex Valle has been a Free Member at absolutearts.com since 2001> View his portfolio at http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/a/alexvalle/

IMAGE
Alex Valle
  SUCTION CUP, 2005
serie 22 photos,
100x70cm

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