 |
|
|
| |
Iberê Camargo – a visual essay
Iberê Camargo: a visual essay takes a look at three different artistic directions present in Iberê Camargo’s works from the collection of the Foundation. There is the vision of nature, a primeval source of emotion and inspiration for art, the vision of mankind in terms of existence, individual and collective identity, and the vision of forms, abstraction, that special place within art which brings into being images that are not to be found anywhere else.
The exhibition has been planned as a visual interpretation which weaves together the art, images and voice of the artist, a singular encounter with Iberê’s work which summons up the experience of pleasure and discovery that is so unique to the aesthetic experience.
“To create a picture is to create a whole new world”, Iberê used to say, as the privileged spectator of that new world. Our visitors today have the opportunity to see the range of works he produced from 1940 to 1994, the year of his death; to see how his narrative thread is at times continuous, at others broken; to gather an insight into the obsessions and discoveries contained within the vision of an artist for whom memory was a vast ocean delivering up the images of his art from its depths.
Iberê Camargo’s work was known for its striking originality and utter independence of any fashion or vogue. The exhibition has set itself the task of reflecting the vision of this man who forged his path through the intensity of his aesthetic experience with both passion and vehemence.
A vision of forms
In 1958, Iberê began to move from geometry towards abstraction with his series of works entitled Carretéis (Spools). In 1962, he began work on his Núcleos series, figures formed by a vertical axis from which issued other lines at right angles. A succession of paintings on this theme lead to the total disintegration of forms and the predominance of a painting without composition, like abstract expressionism. The process arises from the play between the forms characterized by a level of independence which the artist fostered by using dense masses of paint.
By the mid-1960s, Iberê had consolidated his reputation at both international and national level. He was thus a natural candidate to paint a mural donated by Brazil as a gift to the new headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva. The panel was inaugurated on May 23, 1966.
The panel, which measures 7 meters square, was a real challenge for the artist, who prepared himself for the task beforehand with numerous sketches and drawings. The final result, following many long and arduous months of work, is a colorful and abstract picture, a joyful outburst of strokes and stylized images of birds, spools, flowers and dice, an allegory of life at its most splendid and vigorous.
A vision of mankind: portraits over time
The contemplation of one’s own image has exercised a strong attraction over men since the dawn of time. The portrait, like the mirror, reflects man’s identity, based both on subjective values and others that arise from the social exchanges and expectations of the time.
Throughout his career, Iberê tried out a number of different stylistic, existential and visual approaches in his self-portraits, which are the way in which the artist elects to talk about himself. From the fresh-faced features of his youth to the caricature of old-age, the artist unfurls a unique biographical account which both captures each particular instant and reflects the passage of time. This is a highly personal introspection which also reveals how he judged human nature. Over the years, the ways in which he portrayed his figure were subject to many changes in style, from realistic figuration to more abstract expressive forms, crafted with an abundance of paint mass and pure color.
By 1980, his self-portraits had turned into a bitter legacy which expanded to include a vision of his fellow men, the others, as in the series Tudo te é Falso e Inútil (Everything is false and useless to you) and As Idiotas (The Idiots), where existential indifference is brought to life in alienated and listless figures. The tyranny of time and the pain of living are two recurring themes in Iberê’s works in his last phase.
A vision of nature: landscapes
An exuberant yet immobile natural landscape takes shape in the subjective forms of a very personal language, far-removed from academic rules and codes. The first landscapes he painted, dating from the 1940s, already throw into relief Iberê’s form of expression, which led him towards abstraction over the next ten years. These works recreate the solitary places of his childhood and youth, and arise from the intimate connections linking his inner self with the world outside: they are the result of a new perspective that takes ownership of nature.
After a long absence, landscapes, in their most summary form, reappear in his paintings from the 1980s. This time, it is as the background to phantasmagorical figurative scenes in somber tones, in which the landscape reflects the nature of the people and their essential human condition. In the latest of these works, the absence of vegetation and the barely visible trace of the line of the horizon transmit a powerful sense of desolation. These works were painted in his mature years, and close the cycle which he had started with the lonely landscapes he created as a much younger man.
María José Herrera
|
|
| |
|
|
