Last December, I witnessed in Bratislava (capital of Slovakia) the ‘Lingua Franca’ exhibition, which brings together young visual artists, half Brazilian, half slovak.
The last exhibition I saw of Brazilians in this city was one by Cândido Portinari, even in the years 1960. Therefore, I appreciate this initiative, which contributes positively to the dissemination of brazilian art on Slovak territory and throughout Central Europe.
I applaud curator Tiago de Abreu Pinto. Your exhibition is an act of courage. Entrusting the presentation and the installation itself to two artists – one of them, also a Brazilian activist, André Komatsu, together with Slovak writer Petra Feriancová – produced a panorama of moving sincerity.
In an almost testimonial space, both mix times, roots and representations coming from different cultural backgrounds, without ever losing the poetic essence and authenticity.
Among Brazilian artists we see Marcius Galan, sculptor, designer and photographer who knows how to question inaccuracies; Maria Noujaim, young sculptor who investigates forms and poetry; Letícia Patente, pioneering video art researcher in Brazil; and Marco Paulo Rolla, one insatiable by the death drive, which deals with extremes such as pleasure and pain, good and bad, always together.
From the Slovaks, Juraj Bartos and Anna Daučíková are experienced photographers. She, including, defends feminist thought and became a spokesperson for LGBT rights in Slovakia. Peter Bartos is a radical avant-garde. Lubomír Durcek, a performer, documentary filmmaker and writer. Július Koller and Jana Želibská are some of the most important artists from Central Europe. By the way, she witnessed ‘in loco’ the protests of 1968, in Paris
As for André Komatsu, his ‘Architectural Unconscious’ leads us to reflections on the distinction between homo sapiens and homo faber. In an interview with critic and curator Paulo Herkenhoff, he inserts his work into the conceptual context.
Its critical deconstruction of social standards is done by constructing elements in space. Finally, Komatsu states that emotional charge and aesthetic concepts are the primary attributes of a work of art.
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Having started in 7 of december, the exhibition “Língua Franca” is on display at the Bratislava City Gallery (Slovakia) until 24 March this year.
Zuzana Paternostro, art historian
