Paulo Nazareth
CA - genocide products - Fiya Water y Shalin Jamaican, 2017
CA - genocide products - Fiya Water y Shalin Jamaican, 2017
Photo: Bruno Leão | Courtesy the artist and Mendes Wood DM, Sao Paulo, Brussels
Collection
Various objects cast in resin on wooden plinth
80 x 80 x 60 cm (objects in resin)
Contemplation and cultural memory coalesce in the work of Brazilian artist Paulo Nazareth. Throughout his practice, he draws on the experiences, races, religions, and philosophies he encounters along his long and wandering way. By integrating walking into his practice – often through the favela he’s based in near the city of Belo Horizonte as well as twice from Brazil to New York – he is able to journey through time. Whether it is the history of a country, a people, or an individual existence, he understands his surroundings, both passive and active, as an inheritance and an invitation to explore identity and culture.
In this work, he turns his artistic eye to tragedies widely forgotten by time and historical narratives: genocides across the Americas. Here, Nazareth has handcrafted street market stalls to serve as plinths for everyday objects cast in resin. Yet, extermination, enslavement, colonization are all represented – each of the store-bought products bears the names of an indigenous culture eradicated by genocide. The materials of the work could be considered commonplace, yet Nazareth makes the subject matter, hopefully, unforgettable. – Alicia Reuter
*1977 in Governador Valadares, Brazil | Living and working in Santa Luzia, Brazil
CURRENT LOANS
Group show: Remedios
Venue: C3A Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía, Córdoba
Curator: Daniela Zyman
Exhibition 14 April 2023 - March 2024
80 x 80 x 60 cm (objects in resin)
Contemplation and cultural memory coalesce in the work of Brazilian artist Paulo Nazareth. Throughout his practice, he draws on the experiences, races, religions, and philosophies he encounters along his long and wandering way. By integrating walking into his practice – often through the favela he’s based in near the city of Belo Horizonte as well as twice from Brazil to New York – he is able to journey through time. Whether it is the history of a country, a people, or an individual existence, he understands his surroundings, both passive and active, as an inheritance and an invitation to explore identity and culture.
In this work, he turns his artistic eye to tragedies widely forgotten by time and historical narratives: genocides across the Americas. Here, Nazareth has handcrafted street market stalls to serve as plinths for everyday objects cast in resin. Yet, extermination, enslavement, colonization are all represented – each of the store-bought products bears the names of an indigenous culture eradicated by genocide. The materials of the work could be considered commonplace, yet Nazareth makes the subject matter, hopefully, unforgettable. – Alicia Reuter
*1977 in Governador Valadares, Brazil | Living and working in Santa Luzia, Brazil
CURRENT LOANS
Group show: Remedios
Venue: C3A Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía, Córdoba
Curator: Daniela Zyman
Exhibition 14 April 2023 - March 2024