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13th April - 11th May
Alexandre Da Cunha
Vilma Gold is pleased to present a new exhibition of work by Alexandre
da Cunha.
Da Cunha’s works in the past have played with everyday utilitarian
objects, using and re-using objects and stripping them of their
original use value and combining them to create new structures.
However, da Cunha’s use of these materials is loaded with
their reference to high-modernist art through structure, pattern
and motif. Brancusi columns made of gardenware, busts constructed
from mop heads and stretched preprinted textiles emblazoned
with music icons nod to the history and techniques of high art with
an air of dollar store aesthetic. Aesthetically, da Cunha’s
work nods toward Arte Povera and Fluxus, but from a background where
reuse is part of everyday life.
“What is important to note, though, and this also relates
to the idea of cannibalization, is that everything we take in is
digested in a very specifically Brazilian way. I am altering most
of the objects I use, so they are not readymades in the classic
Duchampian sense. They are for the most part fairly universal, but
they also carry the specific context of where they come from—a
particular aesthetics and history.” - Alexandre da Cunha in
conversation with Jens Hoffman, CCA Wattis
Da Cunha’s ambition with these new works is to establish a
structure that resonates within a classical repertoire; that although
the sculpture is constructed from readymades, the works have been
sculpted out of their original forms and combined to become reminiscent
of figurative sculpture. The new works, constructed from domestic
objects such as furniture, mops, walking sticks, household objects,
pots, planters and concrete, have a patina of age or human touch
already. One effect of these new sculptures is to refer to ambiguous
unknown structures, which look like fictional mechanical devices,
or improvised tools, but retain an element of ambiguity as to their
possible use value.
Alexandre da Cunha’s new works explore two strands of interest,
references to art history and the idea of display, and the notion
of cultural tourism, and the signs and symbols that become representative
of a place or experience. In re-appropriating stereotypical
iconography adorned upon found fabrics, and creating flag like compositions
in photo montage, da Cunha re- emphasizes the often neglectful
use of this imagery in areas of identity, consumerism and taste.
Alexandre da Cunha is currently exhibiting in Passengers at the
Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco until August,
2008. He has two forthcoming solo exhibitions at Luisa Strina,
Sao Paulo and also at Sommer and Kohl in Berlin.
Preview:
Saturday 12th April, 6 - 8pm
6 Minerva Street
London
E2 9EH
Open Wednesday-Sunday, 11am-6pm
For further information or images please contact
Kate Fisher: +44 (0)20 7729 9888
or: kate@vilmagold.com
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