My installation at the Jersey Museum will be my largest and most ambitious work to date. It is a 10 ft. long and 35 ft. wide labyrinthine city constructed in paint, foam, paper, photographs, collage, and rubber. Passageways, the title of this exhibition, is related to the absence of streets in the slums, where circulation is provided by stairways or simple tracks. This installation conveys the complexity, chaos, and paradoxes of contemporary life that affect America, my native Brazil, and all of humanity in the age of globalization. While I address the great ills of humanity such as war, poverty, conflict, drug trafficking, and other contemporary issues, they are presented within the full context of humanity that also hungers for joy and happiness. This body of work incorporates photographs taken during Carnival in Brazil, parades in New York City, as well as portraits of my own friends and photographs taken from everyday life experiences. Carnival in Brazil becomes a prism through which to view universal themes and concerns. The idea of transformation, which is at the very heart of the carnival, allows the night to become day, the poor to feel rich, and the plain to become glamorous. For a brief period of time, barriers dissolve. These concepts of inversion and transformation allow life without hope to become, however briefly, a life without limits. My images are collected from the realms of memory, documentary films, the internet, and photography. The narratives presented are personal interpretations of a world that seems at times to be humorous, intense, contradictory, and chaotic. Within this installation, I aim to create platforms for an open international dialogue and to address foreign and American culture in a way that reveals the common notions of happiness, joy, inversion, transformation that are central to all of our stories.
“Passageways”, Site-specific Installation, 2009, boxes, foam, wires, poles, painted canvases, photographs, drawings, and collage, 10 ft and 35 ft
"A house is not a home" explores the notion of inhabitable spaces and their multifaceted realities. It delves into the dynamics of our living experiences and emotions, while also reflecting the ever-evolving nature of living spaces influenced by political, economic, and social factors. This thought-provoking piece delves into the emotional connection between the tangible and intangible aspects of dwelling, examining the distinctions and parallels between a house and a home within the context of settled or nomadic societies.
Curator: Blanca de la Torre
Sponsor: Mario Legorburu
Location: ARTIUM East Wing façade, Basque Museum-Centre of Contemporary Art, Vitoria, Spain
“A house is not a home”, 2013, 10 ft x 10 ft, banner, Artium - the Basque Museum-Centre of Contemporary Art in Vitoria-Gasteiz
“Stairways” Installation View, 2008, sharpie, shoeboxes, photograph collage, tape, acrylic, and vinyl, variable
"Platforms" 2011, mix media, 50" x 120", El Museo Del Barrio Biennial, New York, NY
“Close To Home”, 2007, sharpie, shoeboxes, photograph collage, acrylic, and vinyl, 8 feet long by 8 feet wide and 34 inches from the wall
"Six twenty-five p.m." 2007, pencil, sharpie, acrylic, vinyl, photo collage, rubber rope on the wall, 6 feet long by 8 feet wide
“In Hell Is Where You Face Yourself” 2006, sharpie, photograph collage, vinyl, pencil, rubber rope on the wall, 11 feet long by 20 feet
“Slick” 2010, Solo Exhibition, Russel Projects, Richmond, VA
“Slick” 2010, Solo Exhibition, Russel Projects, Richmond, VA
“Invisible Cities” 2010, Solo Exhibition, Jamaica Center for the Arts and Learning, Queens, NY
“Invisible Cities” 2010, Solo Exhibition, Jamaica Center for the Arts and Learning, Queens, NY
Socrates Sculpture Park
“Between Lines”, 2011
Various PVC pipes, enamel, rope
15' × 50' × 95' approx.
This sculpture playfully reinterprets the popular perspective scheme of a street lined with telephone poles disappearing in the distant horizon. Rather than receding in space through progressively reducing color density, height, and thickness, these poles and hanging lines are placed seemingly at random throughout the center of the Park, confusing the scale and depth of both the interior Park and exterior skyline.
"Architecture of Exclusion", 2010
Wood, enamel, cardboard boxes, plastic pole, rubber cord, various recycled materials, bicycle, clothing fabric, plastic bag, and trash bin.
Approx. 14 ft. wide by 26 ft. long
