The gesture is never neutral. On one side is the gesture of power—the one that imposes rules, dominates, and divides. On the other is the power of gesture—the ability to resist, create, and transform reality through art and the body itself.
This exhibition presents a selection of works from the Instituto PIPA collection, showing how Brazilian contemporary art responds to the dynamics of authority, memory, choice, and positioning.
Brazilian history, from the colonial period to more recent political events, takes center stage in the juxtaposition of Arjan Martins’s painting Rio Setecentista, André Griffo’s canvas O Golpe, a prisão e outras manobras incompatíveis com a democracia [The Coup, the Arrest, and Other Maneuvers Incompatible with Democracy], and Sofia Borges’s photograph from the series A máscara, o gesto e o papel [The Mask, the Gesture, and the Paper]. In Berna Reale’s photo-performance A Mulher [The Woman] and Jaime Lauriano’s sculptures of bandeirantes, a critique of structures of domination emerges through the reworking of official symbols, as the brass of ammunition casings, violence, and irony expose the fissures in our democracy. These cracks also materialize in the torn surface of Camila Soato’s canvas, the rigorous iron structure of João Nascimento’s Fóssil [Fossil], from the series Ossos de Ferragem [Ironwork Bones], and the rules imposed in Elias Maroso’s silkscreen I Agree to the Terms and Conditions of Use. Meanwhile, Musa Michelle Mattiuzzi’s photograph places the artist’s own body in a position of confrontation and provocation.
Bea Machado’s paintings evoke affection and faith, while Bruno Vilela’s photograph embraces the fantastic and the possibility of a reversal of fortune. The practices of enorê and Anna Bigão combine digital technology with materiality, transporting memories and residues into their works. Finally, in his paintings, Thix engages with art history, bringing questions of identity and gender into a classical mode of figuration.
The curatorial gesture itself must also be acknowledged: one of questioning, pointing, and provoking, fostering dialogue among different themes, artists, and media. By bringing these works together, I invite the public to consider how our everyday actions and creativity can transform structures of power.