Luciano Figueiredo in dialogue with Raymundo Colares

18/05/2019 - 22/06/2019

Galeria Leme/AD is pleased to announce the exhibition Luciano Figueiredo in dialogue with Raymundo Colares in its space. The exhibition brings together a representative set of historical works by the artists, both considered exponents of the movements of Counterculture and Experimentalism in Brazil during the 1970s. Luciano Figueiredo presents works that highlight the stages and processes of formal and chromatic investigation that marked 50 years of his artistic trajectory. More than bringing a pertinent aesthetic dialogue, the works of Colares demonstrate an investigative synchronicity, uniting constructive elements of advertising and visual programming of that time.

In Figueiredo’s production, the newsprint works as a catalyst, found in almost every piece. Removed from newspapers, this material has been studied extensively by the artist for decades, since mid-1970s, period when he was still living in London (UK). The works from the “Kinomania” series (1980-90), for instance, attribute to the geometric compositions of newsprint different visual elements and many subtle references inspired by Cinema Noir films, such as “Citizen Kane” (Orson Welles) and “Double Indemnity” (Billy Wilder), among several others. For the most part, the pieces refer to Constructivism and graphic traditions, through the experiments with the properties of fabrics and papers. Likewise, Colares’ “object books”, one of his most emblematic series, the so-called “Gibis” [comics books] (1970s), also explore the formal characteristics of the employed medium. Through the folds, colours and cuts on the paper, the artist created visual narratives that playfully surprised the viewer, who was invited to interact with it.

For over 30 years, since mid-1960s, Luciano Figueiredo has travelled through the most diverse areas of national and international art scenes. This experience as a multiple professional, in a period of extreme cultural effervescence and artistic experimentation, led to the construction of a path that was mainly based on research on the everyday materials and their possibilities within the composition of works, following the best of Brazilian experimental art from de 1960s and 70s that, differently from the dematerialized aspects of Conceptual Art in North America, has never separated thought from sensoriality. The manipulation of materials, through cut-outs, collages, etc., has initiated a series of ‘paintings-objects’, that is, ‘colour structures’, from the combination of different elements such as newsprint and fabrics. Later, this research culminated in the so-called “Relief” series, one of the artist’s most iconic production, where he applies several layers of painted canvas in geometric compositions, described by Figueiredo as “possibilities of colour and space in suspension”. Some of the first works of this series can also be seen in the exhibition.

As for Raymundo Colares, he invested in the representation of the rhythms dictated by contemporaneity. In his paintings, through geometry, he portrayed the dynamism and diversity of a time of great transformation – the 60s, 70s and 80s. His paintings conveyed mainly strong colours, fragmenting the images as in interrupted processes, departing from a repertory of urban images, such as buildings and buses. His drawings and paintings also brought clear references of Concrete and Pop Art, as well as elements of mass culture, features that made him an important figure of the New Figuration movement in Brazil.

 

About the artists:

 

Luciano Figueiredo. Fortaleza, Brazil, 1948. Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Nice, Blois and Paris, France

Among his solo exhibitions there are: Pli et Contre-Pli, Galerie Depardieu, Nice, France (2018). Urgente: É Pintura!, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2017); Figures et Formes Géométriques, Marcel Fleiss Galerie, Paris, France (2017); Cor, Plano: Suspensão, Galeria Leme, Sao Paulo, Brasil (2015); Cor, Plano: Suspensão, Galeria Lurix, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2014); fabri-fabulosi IMAGEM/LEGENDA: um cine-romance, Oi Futuro Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2013), Structures, Couleurs, Galerie des Docks, Nice, France (2011), Peintures et Reliefs, Galerie d’Est et d’Ouest, Paris, France (2007), etc.

Group shows: Modos de ver o Brasil, Itaú Cultural 30 anos, OCA, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2017); Jogos de Guerra, Caixa Cultural, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2011); Anos 70, Arte como Questão, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2007); Filmes de Artista, Brasil 1965-80, Foire d’art contemporain de Strasbourg, France (2007); Tudo É Brasil, Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2004); Contemporary Brazilian Works on Paper, Nobe Gallery, Nova York, EUA (1978); Salão de Verão, MAM, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1970); 2a Bienal Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Salvador, Brazil (1968); IX Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brasil (1967); 1a Bienal Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Salvador, Brasil (1968), among others.

Collections: Coleção Itaú, Brazil; Coleção CCBB-RJ, Brazil; Coleção Oi Futuro Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Musée Départamentale de Gap, France; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA; Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection, USA; The Collection Annette and Peter Nobel, Switzerland; Kadist Foundation, San Francisco, USA.

 

 

Raymundo Colares. Grão Mogol, MG, Brazil, 1944 – Montes Claros, MG, Brazil, 1986

Among his solo exhibitions there are: Raymundo Colares, Galeria Ibeu Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1970); Raymundo Colares, Brazilian-American Cultural Institute, Washington, DC, USA (1979); Raymundo Colares, Galeria Paulo Klabin, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1985); Raymundo Colares, Centro Universitario Maria Antonia, São Paulo, Brazil (2004); Raymundo Colares, MAM-SP, Brazil (2010).

Among the group exhibitions: Nova Objetividade Brasileira, MAM-RJ, Brazil (1967); 19o Salao Nacional de Arte Moderna, MAM-RJ, Brazil (1970 – International Trip Award); 4o Panorama de Arte da Atual Brasileira, MAM-SP, Brazil (1972); Arte Agora I, MAM-RJ, Brazil (1976); From Modern to the Contemporary, Barbican Center, London, UK (1984); Modernidade: arte brasileira do Séc XX, Musée d’Art Modern de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France (1988); Livro-objeto: A Fronteira dos Vazios, CCBB-RJ (1994); Bienal Brasil Séc XX, Fundação Bienal, SP (1995); Brasil + 500 Mostra do Redescobrimento, Fundação Bienal, SP (2000); Neovanguardas, Museu de Arte da Pampulha, MG (2008); 30 X Bienal: Transformações na Arte Brasileira, da 1a a 30a edição, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo (2013).

 

 

Click here for the exhibition preview.