“BACK TO THE GARDEN”

celebration of the Art of Six Brazilian Women at the Museum of Sacred Art in São Paulo

Museu de Arte Sacra de São Paulo (MAS.SP), institution of Secretariat of culture, Economy and Creative Industry of the State of São Paulo, opens the group exhibition BACK TO THE GARDEN, with work Carla Fonseca, Julia Bac, Lidia Lisbôa, Nathalie Nery, Paula Scavazzini, Yasmin Guimaraes, emerging brazilian artists, that explore the connection with nature and the beauty of gardens, providing reflections on uncertain times and the natural charms of life. Curated by Simon watson, the opening takes place on the day 5 August - Saturday, at 11am.

The show, with title mentioned in Cartola's song 'Roses Don't Talk', widely recognized in the version recorded by Beth Carvalho, includes a stanza that guides the concept of the exhibition:

“I go back to the garden,
I sure must cry,
Well, I know you don't want to go back,
For me,
I complain to the roses,
How silly roses don't talk,
Simply the roses exude…”

“The works of the artists can be understood as messages of engagement with the natural world, of beautiful gardens and hope in uncertain times. And, like in music, this is a display with sweet and sour sensations. Being exposed in winter, is directly linked to life cycles, to endings and beginnings: a metaphor of birth and renewal, as well as a gesture of embrace to the balance of nature”, discusses the curator.

The exhibition occupies two different spaces in the premises of the MAS.SP: one of the temporary exhibition rooms and the inner gardens of the cloister. All works are being created by the artists on-site, no MAS.SP and, in this way, dialogue with this example of the Brazilian Historical Heritage. The institution is installed in an area belonging to the Monastery of Luz, of the Order of the Immaculate Conception – Congregation of Conceptionist Sisters, surrounded by gardens and a convent farm. The building is a rare example of historic colonial architecture in Brazil..

“BACK TO THE GARDEN” is a journey of contemplation that embraces the cycles of life, symbolizing birth and renewal. The exhibition celebrates the talent and creativity of six emerging Brazilian women artists, whose works reveal a deep connection to nature and the harmony of the natural world.

"O Museum of sacred art is constantly revived by its visitors and by contemporary artists who make works on-site, that dialogue with the tranquility of the place, while bringing a new perspective on our times.”. Simon watson

• Artists

Carla Fonseca (lush, MG)

Lives and works in São Paulo. His works have participated in numerous group exhibitions., as in Brasilia, the National Museum (2022), where he created his first immersive installation combining wall murals and canvas paintings. In July, the artist joined the Simon Watson Arts residency program in Lisbon, which, in its conclusion, promoted her first individual exhibition of the artist in a commercial gallery, Edison Gallery, in the district of Saldanha, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Julia Bac (São Paulo, SP)

Lives and works in São Paulo. Poet and cultural producer, is a Bachelor of History (PUC/SP, 2004), in Visual Arts (Fine Arts University Center/SP, 2009), and Master in Art and Heritage (Maastricht University, Holland, 2011). In the literary area, graduated from the fiction nucleus of the Writers Training Course at the Vera Cruz Institute (São Paulo, 2018) and in the Free Writer Preparation/Poetry Course at Casa das Rosas (São Paulo, 2017). Publish your poems on your blog (papelpele.com) and in zines that he makes independently.

Lidia Lisbôa (Guaíra, PR)

Lives and works in São Paulo. Multidisciplinary artist who stands out for his performances and smooth sculptures. Studied metal engraving at the Lasar Segall Museum, contemporary sculpture and ceramics at the Brazilian Museum of Sculpture and Ecology (MuBE) and at the Lyceum of Arts and Crafts. In 2020, exhibited at the São Paulo Cultural Center and, in 2021, at the 12th Mercosul Biennial; participated in the group shows Enciclopédia Negra at Pinacoteca de São Paulo (SP); Carolina Maria de Jesus: a Brazil for Brazilians at Instituto Moreira Salles (SP); The Substance of the Earth: the hinterland, curated by Simon Watson, at the National Museum of the Republic; Central gallery, São Paulo; e Slag Gallery, New York. More recently, he held individual exhibitions at Galeria Millan (2022) and at SESC Pompeia (2023).

Nathalie Nery (Rio de janeiro, RJ)

Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro. Bachelor of Psychology, with a postgraduate degree in Clinical, the artist is indirectly inspired by psychoanalysis and issues related to plant language in her work as an artist. Using everyday objects as a metaphor, accumulate them and serialize them, generating non-compact bodies that cause strangeness and familiarity at the same time. His works, in recent years, have turned to observation and interference. The artist has been developing works with tree leaves that are rare and sculpturally worked.

Paula Scavazzini (São José dos Campos, SP)

Lives and works in São Paulo. Bachelor of Plastic Arts from FAAP- Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (2014). His research with painting goes through portraits, object-paintings and installations in which the characters and objects are marked by gestures and vibrant colors; almost like a reminiscence of the beginning of her training as an architect. He participated in numerous exhibitions such as Galeria Bergamin & Gomide, SP (2020); Museum of Brazilian Art – MAB/FAAP, SP (2021); Institute of the Arts, SP (2021); International City of Arts, Paris, France (2022); “Strangely Familiar” at The Venus Project Gallery, SP (2022); and “Dentro de ti” at Quadra Galeria, São Paulo (2022). The artist is represented by Galeria Casa Albuquerque, Brasilia.

Yasmin Guimaraes (São Paulo, SP)

Lives and works in São Paulo. The artist's paintings are based on the representation of landscapes, images and elements of the world, that break up and fragment through different supports, in short strokes, light paint stains or color cakes. A possible representation of the action of winds on the landscape, or about the things that are in the world. Held individual exhibitions, “Minutes before waking up” (2020), at the Simões de Assis Gallery, Curitiba, PR; “Eyes e Yes” (2018) and “Ellipses” (2016), in the gallery area, in São Paulo, SP, as well as several group exhibitions.

• Curator

Simon watson (Canada) – Born in Canada and raised between England and the United States, is an independent curator and arts educator who currently divides his time between New York and São Paulo. He has been active for thirty-five years in the cultural scene on three different continents., conceived and curated more than 300 art exhibitions for galleries and museums, in addition to acting as a consultant for art collectors, between institutional and private clients. His area of ​​expertise within art curatorship is identifying visual artists with great potential., many of which are already internationally recognized within the blue-chip category and are represented by some of the most famous and respected galleries in the world.

• Contemporary LIGHT Project

Contemporary LIGHT is a program of contemporary art exhibitions that unfolds into diverse cultural events and actions, public and private. Developed by the curator Simon watson, the project, currently, is based at the Museum of Sacred Art of São Paulo. in this space, features themed exhibitions by guest artists, in order to establish conceptual and material dialogues with works from the institution's historical collection. Although strongly focused on the current Brazilian art scene, is committed to a variety of practices, cultivating partnerships with performing artists and organizations that produce art events.

• the Museum

The Museu de Arte Sacra de São Paulo, institution of the Secretary of Culture, Economy and Creative Industry of the State of São Paulo, It is one of the most important of its kind in the country. It is the result of an agreement signed between the State Government and Mitra Archdiocese of Sao Paulo, in 28 October 1969, and its installation date 29 June 1970. Since then, the Museu de Arte Sacra de São Paulo He came to occupy wing of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of Light, on Avenida Tiradentes, downtown São Paulo. The building is one of the most important monuments of colonial architecture São Paulo, built of rammed earth, rare remaining example in the city, last farm convent city. It was listed by the Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute National, in 1943, and the Council for the Defense of Heritage, Architectural artistic and the State of São Paulo, in 1979. It has much of its collection also listed by IPHAN, since 1969, whose priceless heritage includes relics of stories in Brazil and worldwide. The Museu de Arte Sacra de São Paulo holds a vast collection of works created between the 16th and 20th centuries, counting with rare specimens and significant. There are more than 10 thousand items in the collection. Has works of recognized names, as Frei Agostinho da Piedade, Frei Agostinho de Jesus, Antonio Francisco Lisboa, the "Aleijadinho" and Benedito Calixto de Jesus, Among many, anonymous or not. Noteworthy are also the collections of nativity scenes, silverware and jewelery, Lampadarios, furniture, altarpieces, altars, clothing, liturgical books and numismatic.

Exhibition: “BACK TO THE GARDEN”

Artists: Carla Fonseca, Julia Bac, Lidia Lisbôa, Nathalie Nery, Paula Scavazzini, Yasmin Guimaraes
Curated By: Simon watson
Opening: 05 August – Saturday – 11 am to 2 pm
Period: from 05 august to 01 October 2023
Local: Museu de Arte Sacra de São Paulo || MAS / SP
Address: Avenida Tiradentes, 676 -Light, São Paulo (Tiradentes station of subway)
Free parking/alternative access: Rua Jorge Miranda, 43 (subject to capacity)
Tel.: 11 3326-3336 - Additional Information
Timetables: From Tuesday to Sunday, from 09 às 17h (entry allowed until 4:30 pm)

Entrance:

• R$ 6,00 (One piece) | R$ 3,00 (half national entry for students, private school teachers and I.D. Young – upon proof);exemptions: children up to 7 years, adults from 60, public school teachers, disabled people, ICOM members, police and military – upon proof; free for all PCDs plus one companion, Every day. FREE ON SATURDAYS

Accessibility:

• Parking with exclusive space for the disabled and elderly, accessible and adapted bathroom, access ramp for wheelchair users at the entrance to the MAS, informational accessibility with QR Code in the main works of the collection, physical and communicational accessibility using multisensory resources such as models and tactile pieces used by the educational sector, Libras interpreter and bilingual professionals in customer service, by appointment, digital resources on the museum website, with the use of enlarged characters, Libras and trilingual, audio description, Libras window and Braille subtitles in the long-term exhibition of the Neapolitan Crib (under construction), Itinerant exhibition “See and Feel” with 70 replicas of the collection produced in 3D, 100% tactile signs and Braille subtitles, visit with live audio description with educator, by appointment.

Digital Media

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