Photography-Painting and the spirit of a certain time
Plano A _galeria in partnership with MARP present Photography-Painting and the Spirit of a Time. Observatory
Photography-Painting and the Spirit of the Time is a long-running project of the Plano A platform [1] which consists of collective exhibitions, public debates, lectures and the publication of issues covered by the virtual means of information (social networks, sites and electronic magazines) aimed at expanding the range of the ideas that arise during the process. The main theme focuses on the painting and photography practices among the new generation of Brazilian artists. The primary purpose is to create an environment that allows an interchange between its players and a polyphonic discussion on the meaning, background and trends of this emerging artistic production.
The title refers to the claim by Laura González Flores that “photography and painting are basically the same thing. (…) Besides their surface differences and apparent independence, both disciplines belong to a greater pattern, of an ideological-cultural kind that not only encircles them but also determines their features” [2]. The aim is that this and other questions will boost the development of the project, such as:
1 – If painting and photography can be brought closer in terms of the production of images, what can be said about painting and photography as physical objects experienced by the observer?
2 – Much has been written since the 1980s on the desire of contemporary painters to “slow down” time. Will this be almost the only contribution to contemporary art by painting that has reached such a point? And will photography, with extensive and meticulous digital manipulations not have demanded more time for creation and observation to be duly appreciated?
3 –Where will the creative processes of the new generation of figurative Brazilian photographers and painters fit into the prevailing historic narrative that links Brazilian art to the neo-concrete tradition?
4 – Should there be a current school (with a national institutional tradition) of painting and photography in Brazil? Faced with an increasingly globalized art world, is it possible to talk about “Brazilianness” in paintings and photographs produced by these artists?
Observatory, which opens on August 24 and runs until September 3, is the title of the “Photography-Painting” exhibition. It will take place in a house to rent, with the participation of artists from Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte. The decision to restrict the opening exhibition to painters/photographers committed to the figurative language (but not necessarily restricted to it) was a way of limiting the field of study and to promote a group of artists with some minimum cohesion. There is no intention of presenting an overview of Brazilian painting and photography but to “raise the veil” and display a reality the organizers believe has been given relatively little attention.
The launch pad for the works on show at the exhibition will be a lecture and debate entitled “New artists. New ways ahead?” that will be held on the morning of August 27. This will be a thought provoking presentation to be developed by the artist Daré, combined with an open debate with the public and other artists present on recent Brazilian artistic production related to figurative photography and painting, their influences and synchronies with the international contemporary art scene.
Fragrances and Esthetic Heterotopias are individual mini exhibitions by the artists Adriana Amaral and Daré in which they will present new series of works.
A virtual catalogue will be published to accompany the show and develop some of the questions raised above and the opinions expressed (supplementary, differing, contrary) of the participant artists.
[1] Plan A: self-management platform created by the Riberão Preto artists Adriana Amaral and Daré in November 2015.
[2] Flores, Laura González: Photography and Painting: two different means? São Paulo: WMF Martins Fontes.
Source: Canal Contemporâneo