New shows will spotlight works by David Lamelas, Paul Pfeiffer, Robert Irwin and Yayoi Kusama, as well as audiovisual works by eight other artists

An international touchstone for its permanent installations of important works of contemporary art by leading artists, Instituto Inhotim will open a new temporary exhibition on 6 September.

Four large projects by artists David Lamelas, Paul Pfeiffer, Robert Irwin and Yayoi Kusama — along with an exhibition dedicated to audiovisual works — will occupy the three temporary galleries “Lago”, “Praça” and “Fonte”. A large number of works that have never been seen in Brazil before will go on show for the first time in this presentation, which is focused on perception and time, and on different forms of audiovisual production both in Brazil and beyond. On the opening day, the Argentine artist David Lamelas will do the performance Time. The public will also be able to see Stallwitter (Stable Storm), performed jointly by Brazilian artist Marcellvs L. and German artist Daniel Löwenbrück.

“Our aim is to establish a dialogue among works by renowned artists of various nationalities and generations, introducing visitors to names that are still little-shown in Brazil,” says Inhotim’s curator and artistic director Allan Schwartzman. “Internationally important artists who have significantly influenced the history of art — such as Robert Irwin — give rise to new perceptions on space, for example. This exhibition is an excellent opportunity for presenting other works from the collection and to re-create connections with the works for which Inhotim is already known.”

For two artists, Robert Irwin and Yayoi Kusama, this exhibition is a prelude to important large-scale projects that will be unveiled over the next few years at Inhotim. The institute is planning the open-air installation of a large-scale sculpture that Irwin has designed specially for Inhotim. Meanwhile, the construction of a permanent gallery dedicated to Kusama, sponsored by the Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM), is in development.

GALERIA LAGO 

Galeria Lago will feature the exhibition “Lamelas, Irwin, Kusama: Regarding Perception”, which brings together works by three great names in the history of contemporary art. Visitors will be able to view historical works by David Lamelas; Black³, 2008, by North American artist Robert Irwin—being shown here for the first time in Brazil; and the installation I’m Here, But Nothing, 2000, by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.

“The show has historical breadth and covers interesting territory insofar as it brings together artists from different nationalities who began their careers in the same period, during the 1950s and 1960s,” says Inhotim’s adjunct artistic director María Eugenia Salcedo. “There is a generational dialogue among them; all three artists research new forms of artistic production that appropriate less standard material — such as light, architecture, everyday objects and the body itself. Their focus is not on the object, but rather on perception, sensations and the ways in which sculptural elements alter our experience with space and with works of art.”

David Lamelas (Argentina, 1946) will be showing the works Corner Piece, 1966/2018, Límite de una Proyección I, 1967, Proyección, 1968, Situación de Cuatro Placas de Aluminio, 1966, and Untitled (Falling Wall), 1993/2018. The artist achieved international visibility in 1967 with his participation, at the age of 21, in the 9th Bienal de São Paulo and, in the following year, at the 36th Biennale di Venezia. For more than four decades, his works have dealt with themes including time, light, space, architecture and the dematerialization of objects. The artistic context of each place where he has lived — London, Paris, Los Angeles and New York — is essential for his production.

Robert Irwin (USA, 1928) will be presenting Black³, 2008. A pioneer of the Light and Space movement, Irwin began his career in art as a painter in the 1950s. Since then, he has explored perception as a fundamental question of art. The artist has conceived more than 55 site-conditional projects, including the Central Gardens for Getty Center, Los Angeles, 1992–98, and the architectural design and external area of Dia:Beacon, New York, 1999–2003.

Yayoi Kusama (Japan, 1929), already permanently installed at Inhotim with Narcissus Garden, 2009, will now also have the work I’m Here, But Nothing, 2000, shown at the institute. One of the most important artists to have emerged in Asia during the postwar period, Kusama has established a relationship with movements such as Surrealism, Minimalism, Pop art and Feminism. Her work refers to hallucinations that the artist has experienced since childhood and which she transposes to paintings, sculptures, drawings, collages, performances, installations, films, literature, fashion and design.

 

GALERIA PRAÇA 

The exhibition “Paul Pfeiffer, Vitruvian Experiments” will occupy one of the wings of Galeria Praça with two works by the American artist: sculpture Vitruvian Figure, 2008, and the video Empire, 2004. Born in Hawaii, with strong cultural links with the Philippines, Pfeiffer visited Inhotim last year to work together with the institute’s staff to plan the installation of his works.

Inspired by the Olympic Stadium of Sydney, Vitruvian Figure is a large-scale sculpture of almost three meters high, and with one million seats (the real capacity of the arena is 80,000 spectators). Empire presents an anthropomorphic narrative about the activity of the construction of a wasp nest, inspired by the artwork with the same title by Andy Warhol.

“In bringing together these two works, Pfeiffer evokes both the lack of life and movement in Vitruvian Figure and the power of life and creation in Empire,” says Fernanda Arruda, Inhotim’s adjunct curator. “Empire presents us with a structure — an architectural element that fits the need of the wasp — while Vitruvian Figure represents the fulfillment of the consumer’s needs. The nest is essential to the wasp while the stadium is not essential to sport. Vitruvian Figure makes a spectacle of us while reclaiming public space; Empire makes us complicit in the nest-building process, which is about procreation and the continuation of life.”

Pfeiffer became known for his digital manipulations of images of athletes and celebrities, which the artist uses to explore the common tensions of contemporary culture, shedding light on their racial, religious and technological dimensions. His works connect contemporary culture with the history of art, politics, religion and media and has been exhibited and collected by important institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art of New York, Hammer Museum, in Los Angeles, the Contemporary Museum, in Honolulu, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago.

 

GALERIA FONTE 

Located in one of the most visited areas of Inhotim, Galeria Fonte will feature the exhibition “To See Time Go By”, dedicated to audiovisual works of art. Along an immersive path, the exhibition invites the visitor to explore new possibilities of the image. Large audiovisual projects, part of Inhotim’s collection, are being shown for the first time in Brazil.

The works on show include video, slide projection with audio, 3-D projection in real time and a video wall. “The exhibition reinforces the audiovisual vocation of Inhotim, whose collection includes audiovisual works by great artists such as William Kentridge, Steve McQueen and Anri Sala, as well as important sound works by artists Doug Aitken and Janet Cardiff,” says assistant curator Cecília Rocha.

The public will be able to get to know works such as the virtual sculpture Oil Stick Work (Angelo Martínez / Richfield, Kansas), 2008, by artist John Gerrard (Ireland, 1974); a slide projection with audio Have You Ever Seen the Snow?, 2010, by Mario García Torres (Mexico, 1975), and the video I See a Woman Crying (Weeping Woman), 2009, by Rineke Dijsktra (Holland, 1959); all of which have not been previously shown at Inhotim. The show will also feature works by Jorge Macchi (Argentina, 1963), Marcellvs L. (Belo Horizonte, 1980), Peter Coffin (USA, 1972), Phil Collins (England, 1970) and Susan Hiller (USA, 1940).

 

Schedule Opening 2018

Exhibitions

Galeria Lago

“Lamelas, Irwin, Kusama: Regarding Perception”

Galeria Praça

“Paul Pfeiffer, Vitruvian Experiments”

Galeria Fonte

“To See Time Go By”

John Gerrard, Jorge Macchi, Marcellvs L., Mario Garcia Torres, Peter Coffin, Phil Collins, Rineke Dijkstra, Susan Hiller

Visitation

On the opening day, the galleries can be visited from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mediated visits in Portuguese and English will take place throughout the day.

Performances

– Time

David Lamelas

11h: 42, in front of Galeria Lago

Image subtitle: Paul Pfeiffer, Vitruvian Figure, 2008, detail.
Courtesy of the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York.