Modern Fears
March 27–May 4, 2014
Instituto Tomie Ohtake
Av. Faria Lima 201 (entrance at Rua Coropés)
Pinheiros SP
Brazil
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 11am–8pm
Admission free
T +55 11 2245 1900
comunicacao [at] institutotomieohtake.org.br
www.institutotomieohtake.org.br
Instituto Tomie Ohtake announces the second edition of its Arte Atual program. Created by the Instituto’s Curating and Research Department (NPC), this initiative was designed to allow the realization of ambitious experimental projects by emerging artists, actively supported by art galleries nationwide. For this second edition, Modern Fears features Luiz Roque, Matheus Rocha Pitta and Nicolás Robbio, in partnership with Bolsa de Arte, Mendes Wood DM and Vermelho Art Galleries.
Curated by the NPC, Modern Fears derived from different understandings of what modern means—a keyword associated with the swift changes since the mid-nineteenth century, multiple social and scientific developments and implications, ranging from innovation and blatant contrast to the past all the way through industrialization and technological advances, as well as social control and standardization. What one refers to as modern has ultimately given way to dubious processes that trigger optimism and enthusiasm by providing individuals with facilities and inventions that ultimately result in their own alienation.
The pieces in Modern Fears point to the permanence of an anxiety that emerged from modernity. They echo changes that have deeply marked the social and psychic structures of individuals, ultimately exploring aspects of angst and neurosis. These symptoms, inherent to modern civilization, persist: as tension and insecurity related to productivity and waste imperatives typical of the capitalist economy, present in Matheus Rocha Pitta’s installation; as an urge to adapt to previously established identity and behavioral patterns and categories, challenged by Luiz Roque’s videos; and through the imposition of systems intended to label and standardize subjects, objects and space, as stressed by Nicolás Robbio’s installation.
Artists and works:
Luiz Roque (b. 1979, Cachoeira do Sul, RS)
represented by Galeria Bolsa de Arte
In Modern Fears, Luiz Roque will show Ano Branco (White Year), commissioned by the 9th Mercosur Biennial (2013), which addresses transsexuality issues. With this video, the artist conceived a future in which sex change surgeries have been through a political battle for institutionalization. Roque will also exhibit a new video, Alvorada (Dawn) (2014), another result os his research on identity and behavior.
Nicolás Robbio (b. 1975, Mar del Plata, Argentina)
represented by Galeria Vermelho
Robbio presents Modos (Ways) (2014), an installation that incorporates drawings, paintings, sculptures and a selection of objects. The connections between the installation’s elements are not established through obvious logical relations, but all of them are able to create new language arrangements. The artist emphasizes the variety of systems that can be created, and brings light to the way we usually make associations in an effort to organize, arrange and communicate.
Matheus Rocha Pitta (b. 1980, Tiradentes, MG)
represented by Mendes Wood DM
In modern fears, Rocha Pitta displays a version of his work Deposição (Deposition) (2013), processed food items laid out directly on the floor, available for consumption. The products will be open and, without cutlery, the visitors are invited to try them. The artist addresses the value of things devoid of their status of assets, in a condition of sheer offering, subject to waste.
Coordinated by Paulo Miyada and formed by Carolina de Angelis, Julia Lima, Olivia Ardui and Priscyla Gomes, the Curating and Research Department (NPC) of Instituto Tomie Ohtake has been researching Brazilian art since 2011. Having undertaken exhibition and research work such as the Timeline of Brazilian Art, NPC has collaborated with exhibitions such as Paulo Bruscky, Estranhamente Familiar (Unheimlich), Jasper Johns, Louise Bourgeois, Brazilian Architecture and Tomie Ohtake.
