With the exhibition Brazil. Knife in the Flesh, PAC in Milan continues to explore continents by means of contemporary art, introducing a selection of 30 Brazilian artists spanning several generations, active from the Seventies onwards.
‘Knife in the Flesh’ (Navalha na Carne) is the title of a play by Brazilian writer Plínio Marcos, particularly active during the years of the Brazilian military regime. Thus, from its very title, the exhibition declares itself to be in conflict. By means of installations, photographs, videos and performances, several of the artists invited to the PAC make reference to this conflict – which has no beginning, much less an end, is hard to sum up in words and rarely translates into physical fights or battles. A social – and above all symbolic – conflict, then, rather than a military one.
Gathering together a series of works created in Brazil over the past forty years, the exhibition shatters conventions and stereotypes without, however, setting out to draw a portrait of the country or its artistic scene, reflecting instead on their inherent conflict: the fights and violence, the political, social, racial, ecological and cultural abuse. A direct language that appears naïve, whilst actually pregnant with meaning as it tells of broken dreams and disappointed hopes, but also of a people capable of keeping their incredible optimism and trust in the future.
Artists: Maria Thereza Alves; Sofia Borges; Paloma Bosquê; Jonathas de Andrade; Iole de Freitas; Daniel de Paula; Deyson Gilbert; Fernanda Gomes; Ivan Grilo; Carmela Gross; Tamar Guimarães; Maurício Ianês; Clara Ianni; Francesco João; André Komatsu; Runo Lagomarsino; Leonilson; Ícaro Lira; Cinthia Marcelle; Ana Mazzei; Letícia Parente; Regina Parra; Vijai Patchineelam; Berna Reale; Celso Renato; Mauro Restiffe; Luiz Roque; Daniel Steegmann Mangrané; Tunga; Carlos Zilio.
Milan, PAC, July - September 2018
Contents
ESSAYS
Knife in the Flesh
Jacopo Crivelli Visconti
Brazil. Aesthetics and Ideology
Diego Sileo
ARTISTS
Texts: Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, Isabella Lenzi
Maria Thereza Alves
Sofia Borges
Paloma Bosquê
Jonathas de Andrade
Iole de Freitas
Daniel de Paula
Deyson Gilbert
Fernanda Gomes
Ivan Grilo
Carmela Gross
Tamar Guimarães
Maurício Ianês
Clara Ianni
Francesco João
André Komatsu
Runo Lagomarsino
Leonilson
Ícaro Lira
Cinthia Marcelle
Ana Mazzei
Letícia Parente
Regina Parra
Vijai Patchineelam
Berna Reale
Celso Renato
Mauro Restiffe
Luiz Roque
Daniel Steegmann Mangrané
Tunga
Carlos Zilio
APPENDIX
Texts in Portuguese
Biographies
OWorks on show