“What about the Biennial?” by Glauco Mathur

I have a passion for fine arts, Anyone who knows me knows that! I Have 18 years of career and always pawned in various functions involving this playful and charming world. In addition to artist, I'm a curator, teacher, collector and, of course, lover of the arts. I love to travel in search of knowledge and to enjoy what is done around the world. My most recent trip was to San Paulo, to meet the works on display at the 32nd biennial of São Paulo.

I was very pleased by what I saw there. The theme this year is "Uncertainty Alive", It proposes a reflection on how is the world going forward in front of so many uncertainties. In this issue 180 artists presented their works, and I highlight three that surprised me too.

The first is a young artist from Minas Gerais Laís Myrrha. By coincidence, We formed together around the years 2000, the Guignard school. Entitled "Two weights, two measures ", his work at the Biennale is composed of two towers of eight meters high and made up of various materials stacked. On one side is the tower with vine, log of wood and straw, typical of indigenous structures and, the other, a tower with brick, cement, Iron welts, tiles and glass, common in modern Brazilian buildings.

With this, Laís proposes a discussion about the issues of modern architecture compared to past indigenous buildings, debating how the way of life today. These two towers stand out a lot at the Biennale, not only by the size, but also for its location. They counteract, or, best, are "squatters", with its square concrete forms, in terms of architecture to the place in which they were installed, the Oscar Niemeyer Pavilion. This flag proposes an architecture with virtuous curves typical of Niemeyer himself.

The second artist who highlight is Wilma Malik, who lives in Rio de Janeiro, but mining is. During the event of art of São Paulo, She presents the show "everyday life". His paintings, oil on canvas, well monochrome, always in black and white. The most interesting of his works is the way she can play with the colors and textures of a graphite pencils. All paintings suffer interference, that stand by the use of colors. The use of colour happens when she mixes the theme of everyday life the elements of nature, as wild animals and landscapes intrude on composition. The result is a very interesting and Surrealism and with big plastic quality.

Now, finally, highlight a male artist, He was born in Salvador, but he lives in the State capital. The works of José Bento are characterized by the use of wood. To surprise the public, He took to the biennial a gigantic stage made with wood bats. Titled "Ground", the work proposes an interaction with the public, because some areas of these floors to overlap the layers of springs that sink. When walking on top of this structure have the feeling of instability, very interesting and thought-provoking for everyone, mainly for children who have fun with the work.

I was delighted with what I saw. The curator Jochen Volz and co-curators involved Gabi Ngcobo, Júlia Rebouças, Lars Bang Larsen and Sofia Olascoag are to be congratulated by the greatness of this show! The construction of this edition was long, started in 2015, and all Trustees followed the creation process of the artists. As passionate for the arts, I would advise anyone who can go, to go! This edition has a smaller number of artists, but in terms of quality is superior to plastic I've visited. The curators thought in every detail, including the restaurant is part of the show. Vegan, the establishment is also a thought-provoking work of art.

In summary, I really enjoyed! There we see medium works, good and great! These three artists that I cited above, in my opinion, stand out not only for having a connection with Minas Gerais, but because it surprised me in artistic terms, plastics and conceptual. For anyone interested, to 32ª Bienal de São Paulo can be visited until the day 11 of december, which coincidentally is the date of my birth!

*Glauco Mathur
Visual Artist