Curator: Martina Weinhart (SCHIRN)
In fall 2013 the SCHIRN will launch a multifaceted group exhibition dedicated to artistic installations in Brazil. A tour of spaces and installations offering intense experiences will present the specifically Brazilian version of what has become a key medium in contemporary art. An exceptionally lively artistic community back in the late 1950s initially critically explored the theories and Modernist trends in Western metropolises, and this swiftly gave rise to an original and truly Brazilian form of art. The synthesis of elements from different cultures engenders self-determined characteristic Brazilian art that is powerful, very expressive, and in which a sensory, physical and intellectual penetration of art plays a key role. The transformation of the painted image into lived experience outside the image has been a core undertaking ever since. In this spirit, Brazilian artists produce expansive artworks that involve viewers as a whole, surround them, occupy them, incorporate them, challenge them physically, haptically and visually in many ways. This special, sensory thrust of the installations, which at the same time address political, social and ethical issues, has remained alive to this day. The exhibition presents installations from the early 1960s through to new artistic positions to demonstrate the specifically Brazilian element of this “art of experience”, in which the observer is directly involved as a participant.