Janaina Tschäpe’s third solo show at galeria Fortes Vilaça in São Paulo

Janaina Tschäpe’s third solo show just opened at Galeria Fortes Vilaça's Galpão (Warehouse). Little piece of trivia: she's the wife of celebrated artist Vik Muniz (click here to read about his show at the Masp museum).

According to the gallery, "Tschäpe is bringing to Brazil highlights from her most recent production, including paintings, watercolors, drawings, photographs from her Botanica series, and a video from her Eclipse series, all shown here for the first time.




On her huge canvas Wilt – six meters long by three meters high – and in her large watercolors, Tschäpe flirts with abstraction and landscape. The forms, full of folds and concavities, expand in organic lines, revealing a precise balance between gestuality and detail. The artist creates moist environments resembling rainy places, like “forest fog.” Using a palette of purple, green, pink and blue hues, her artwork seem to be scenes of the same place, at different phases of the day.

All the artworks in the show deal with the theme of landscape: in a more distanced way in the paintings and watercolors, and in a more intimate manner – with small “close-ups” – in the drawings and photographs. The colored-pencil drawings are made with light lines and beckon the viewer to come closer, in order to appreciate their minimal details and delicate chromatic relations.



Tschäpe points out that “in painting we have the freedom to prolong the forms to where we desire; with photography I have
tried to repeat this experience.” In the photographs of the Botanica series, the artist uses real, natural scenes to which she adds invented details: a flower inspired in real plant species, but made of colored modeling compound and plastic. With vibrant
colors, these small deceptions resemble true fruits and vegetables, but give provoke feelings of strangeness and curiosity, since
at first sight it is not obvious what is real and what is invented in the landscape.

Until 12 June, a retrospective of Tschäpe’s work – centered more on photographs and videos – can be seen at Galeria de Arte Laura Alvin in Rio de Janeiro. Still in 2009, the artist will be participating at the Triennial of the International Center of
Photography, New York, and will hold a solo show at Kasama Nichido Art Museum, in Japan. The 2008, the artist had a large solo show at IMMA – Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin."

And here's the link to Janaína's online bio.

31 May 2009 to 4 July 2009 | Galpão Fortes Vilaça | Rua James Holland 71 |
Barra Funda, São Paulo, tel. 55-11 3392-3942
Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. | Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Information: Márcia de Moraes curatorial@fortesvilaca.com.br



Current exhibition:
14 May – 20 June 2009, Robert Mapplethorpe | Galeria
Upcoming exhibitions:
18 July – 15 August 2009, José Damasceno | Galpão

More things to do and see in São Paulo:

• Private and customized tours of São Paulo
• The best of Brazilian street art on show at Choque Cultural gallery
• SP Arte, the best and most important art show in Brazil
  
• A slideshow of my favourite São Paulo images
• The Baixo Augusta district is booming with new restaurants and clubs,
  and The New York Times has it covered
• Beautiful movie theater Cine Marabá in the Centro (Old Downtown) reopens after huge restoration

SP arte, Brazil's major art show, opens today in São Paulo

Currently, Brazil's most important art fair is the SP Arte, which opened Thursday in São Paulo.



There is a record number of galleries showing - 80 - including most of the top Brazilian ones as well as galleries from invited countries, such as Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Portugal, Spain and France. A whopping 2000 art works are on show and guest curators were brought in from the MoMa and London's Tate Modern.

First launched in 2005, SP Arte has put São Paulo on the global art circuit.

Prices start at a mere 300 reais. The show has some of Brazil's greatest names well represented, like the modernist José Pancetti (1902-1958) and Mira Schendel (1919-1988), the latter also the subject of a show currently at New York's MoMA.

Fortes Vilaça gallery has a great new piece by graffiti artists (and media darlings) Osgemeos, a panel called Rodopiando, priced at US$ 80 000 (a bargain, I think), which you can see in the photo above. There's also a work by Brazil's best-known artist, New York-based Vik Muniz, going for US$ 144 000. Other big names with works on sale include Botero (pictured at top), Cildo Meireles, Di Cavalcanti, Ismael Nery and Beatriz Milhazes. And more: Waltercio Caldas, Ivan Serpa, Janaina Tchape, Rodolpho Parigi, Tunga, Nuno Ramos, Regina Silveira… and even some work by foreigners, like David LaChapelle, Pablo Picasso, Saint Clair Cemin, León Ferrari.

Here is a link to a great slideshow of many of the pieces on show.

And here is an image of a work being offered by the cutting edge Galeria Leme:



In a building adjacent to the Bienal, the Lina Bo Bardi Auditorium of MAM - Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo, there will be a series of cultural events including a talk on art.


Pavilhão da Bienal.
Parque do Ibirapuera, portão 3, tel. (55-11) 3094-2820. Friday, 2PM until 10PM. Weekend, noon to 8PM.

More on art in Brazil on this blog:

1. The best of Brazilian street art on show at Choque Cultural gallery
2. Choque Cultural gallery and a show of American art
3. Osgemeos open a show in Rio
4. Vik Muniz opens show at the Masp, in São Paulo
5. Artist Iran do Espírito Santo opens his house in São Paulo to the blog