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Reading time 3 min

The garden and other myths

Equipe de mediadores

Since early September, Inhotim has shown the individual exhibit The Garden and other myths, by Romanian artist Geta Br?tescu. Occupying part of Galeria Lago, the exhibit gathers works produced from the 1960s to 2012, and shows a great range of the artist’s production and her perceptions on the female condition, as well as on the making of art itself.

 

Geta Br?tescu is currently 88 years old. She has studied in the School of Languages and in the Fine Arts Institute in Bucharest. As it happened in other dictatorships in Western Europe, the Romanian art scene was divided into the “official art”, aimed at State propaganda, and the productions that appeared outside public institutions, in a marginalized way. This was the context in which Br?tescu produced for three decades, and worked as an illustrator for cultural newspaper Secolul 20. Some of the works published back then can be seen in the exhibit.

 

Nuduri
Charcoal and ink crawing on paper, from the “Nuduri” (1975) series, part of the “The Garden and other miths” exhibit. Photo: Rossana Magri

Collages, lithographs, book illustrations, photographs, prints, tapestry, experimental films and video-performances are some of the techniques used by Br?tescu. At Inhotim, some of her works refer back to classical ancient times and Greek mythology. This is the case of Medea, the representation of the mythical character who betrays her family to live with her great love, Jason. When Medea finds out she was replaced by another woman, she kills her own children to revenge.

 

Like other artists, Br?tescu visited industrial areas in the country and used this context as a source of inspiration in her production. The circular shape of boilers, pressure gauges, and iron train wheels can be seen in several works, such as Circles (2012). Would the circle be a metaphorical principle?Could the shape of a circle narrate the ups and downs of the Romanian communist regime?These are but a few reflections that emerge from the artist’s work. Make sure to check it out!

 

 

Magno Silva, art educator at Instituto Inhotim

 

Reading time 3 min

Cloud factory

Equipe de mediadores

Memories, an engine, water and soap.That is how Filipino artist David Medalla created the set of works entitled Bubble Machines. One of them, Cloud-Gates (1965/2013), is now part of Inhotim collection and goes on display at the park tomorrow, September 4.

 

Medalla moved to London in the sixties and founded the Signals Gallery, specialized in kinetic art. As an important name for experimental art, he introduced Brazilian artists such as Lydia Clark, Hélio Oiticica, Mira Schendel and Sérgio de Camargo to the European audience. Marcel Duchamp was enchanted by his work and rendered him an homage in the form of a sculpture entitled Medallic Sculpture.

 

In 1964, the artist created the Sand Machine, and ingenious production in which a motor drives a bamboo to produce random drawings and shapes in a sand box.Shortly thereafter, Medalla used participatory art to start showing his interest in political and social issues.In Stitch in Time (1967), the artist invites the public to freely stitch words and phrases onto a piece of fabric. This way, the public becomes part of the process to create the infinite, and dialogs with experiences that go beyond his own experiences.

 

Also known for his performances, whether telling stories, remembering tales or describing amazing scenes, Medalla will make an unprecedented performance at Inhotim on September 4, opening of the new works, including Cloud-Gates.

 

Medalla refers to his work as being atomic, seeking to reach dimensions that go beyond the boundaries of the work itself, adding value and experiences to be lived and shared by the public.

 

The artist has made the invite.Now all you have to do is plan and check it out in person!Click here and purchase your ticket.

 

 

Text by Renan Ribeiro Zandomenico, Art and Education Mediator and the newest admirer of David Medalla.

 

Reading time 3 min

An invitation to mediation

Equipe de mediadores

There have been countless efforts to define the word mediation, which is used in several different ways by different sectors of society.  It can relate to the solution of conflict, the interpretation of works of art and, yet, it can be used to facilitate a process.  

 

Since the beginning of its activities, Inhotim’s Department of Education has developed strategies to promote discussions on the Institute’s collections.  This work happens through mediation, a practice that supports dialog, autonomy and, most of all, visitors’ experiences.  

 

Mediation is a powerful tool to build knowledge.  It helps visitors and mediators recognize themselves as active participants in the most important discussions related to contemporaneity.  At Inhotim, the purpose of mediation is to create a safe space for dialog, questioning and discovery.  These meetings go beyond the first impression in search of that which makes us think, find the sparkle that leads to a reaction on our part.

 

What awakens or critical eye and compels us to (re)build?  We understand that the construction of knowledge happens through exposure to new images, new dilemmas.  This alchemy results in a powerful tension in our rational boundaries, which we seek to expand.

 

Taking part in a guided tour, or mediated tour, at Inhotim is taking yourself to an unknown place and making this place fertile soil to risk, speak up, improvise and perceive how you feel in this context.  

 

You are invited to take a closer look, to ask, and get to places, create memories and have encounters that will take your breath away!

 

 

Written by Lília Dantas, Art and Education Supervisor at Inhotim

Reading time 3 min

Contrasts of time

Equipe de mediadores

How long does an invitation, a proposal, last?  During the month of May, the art guided tours at Inhotim address still life and its relationship with time.  The acknowledgment of time as a necessary condition for the existence of life has motivated several artists to risk the possibility of putting a stop to it.  They tend to capture the instant, or even make time go by as if it were in slow motion, in which case it is possible to observe details of the transformation of something new based on what had existed, but no longer does.  

 

One of the videos in the Natureza-Morta exhibit, at Galeria Fonte, is 10:51 (2009), by Argentinean artist Jorge Macchi.   In this work, a clock projected onto the line between the wall and the ceiling causes us to observe how the experience with space conditions and is conditioned by our relationship with the passage of time.  Have you stopped to think about how you get organized and is controlled by a clock hanging on your wall at home, on the street, at work or even attached to your wrist?

 

Another piece of work that establishes a deep dialog with the idea of time (de)composing is Ahora juguemos a desaparecer II (2002), by Cuban artist Carlos Garaicoa. In this work, the video-installation shows an ongoing experiment, in which famous pieces of architecture are set on fire, trigging a number of possible discussions that range from the emergence of new social orders to the suffering of ancient cultures.  Often the social condition of different times and cultures builds unique perceptions of time, which happens through the observation of nature or is materialized in artifacts, from the sun clock to the work of art, for instance.

Detalhe da obra "Ahora juguemos a desaparecer II" (2002), do artista Carlos Garaicoa. Foto: Daniela Paoliello
Detail of the work “Ahora juguemos a desaparecer II” (2002), by Carlos Garaicoa. Photo: Daniela Paoliello

What does being part of time, belonging to time, mean?

 

Written by Alison Loureiro, art-educator at Inhotim

Reading time 3 min

Bringing art closer to life

Equipe de mediadores

During the month of April, the art guided tours at Inhotim addressed still life and its relationship with time and space.  Through this art history genre, it is possible to raise issues related to items in our everyday lives, as well as to how we look at these objects and what transforms them into art.  

 

Como aprender o o que acontece na normalidade das coisas (2002-2005) [How to understand what happens in the natural order of things], by Spanish artist Sara Ramo, is one of the photo series that comprise the Still Life exhibit, at Galeria Fonte in Inhotim. In this work, the artist presents a series of home bathrooms which are sometimes organized, sometimes filled with utensils and personal hygiene items.  By exposing these private environments, she makes them public, surfacing mysterious possibilities about everything that happens in these intimate places.

 

Imagens da série "Como aprender o que acontece na normalidade das coisas", da artista Sara Ramo
Images from the series “Como aprender o que acontece na normalidade das coisas” (2002-2005), by artist Sara Ramo

 

The contrast between photography’s static time and the transformation of the environment on display can be related to the everyday life.  By using the bathroom, we also change it. Would that be an invitation to learn and alter the everyday normality and how we look at our everyday lives? The bathroom composition as well as the choice and position of the items in the artworks allow us to observe the works not as photographs, but as a sort of sculptural moment.  

 

The multiple works by Sara Ramo allow for several interpretations, which grants the artist the status of representative of this contemporary art that transforms the concept given to art since the Enlightenment and brings it closer to life, whether this is done due to the materials used or due to the issues raised by it.

 

How do we deal with our everyday lives?  Are we capable of thinking utilitarian items in a different way, one that goes beyond their primary functionality?

 

 

Written by Daniela de Avelar Vaz Rodrigues, art mediator at Inhotim