Isaac Julien: A Marvellous Entanglement is one of the five exhibitions at MASP — Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand set to inaugurate the new Edifício Pietro Maria Bardi in March. Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro portray Lina Bo Bardi (1914–1992) at different stages of her life. Presented for the first time in Brazil, the video installation by British artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien will be on view from March to August.
First exhibited in London in 2019, the work consists of nine simultaneous projections on large-format screens. The videos capture images of iconic buildings designed by the modernist architect and designer, highlighting the poetic dimension of her visionary legacy. The artist emphasizes Lina's social, political, and cultural ideas, along with philosophical reflections formulated in her articles and letters.
Filmed in São Paulo (at MASP, Sesc Pompeia, and Teatro Oficina) and Salvador (at the Museum of Modern Art, Restaurante Coaty, and Teatro Gregório de Mattos), the work also features a specially choreographed performance by the Balé Folclórico da Bahia and performances by the Brazilian art collective Araká. Zé Celso, actor, director, playwright, and co-founder of Teatro Oficina—designed in 1992 by Lina Bo Bardi and Edson Elito—also appears in the film. The soundtrack was composed by German-Spanish composer Maria de Alvear.
Isaac Julien: A Marvellous Entanglement is curated by Adriano Pedrosa, artistic director of MASP, with assistance from Matheus Andrade, curatorial assistant at MASP. The exhibition's title is derived from the quote: "Linear time is a Western invention; time is not linear, it is a marvellous entanglement where, at any moment, points can be chosen and solutions invented, with no beginning or end." — Lina Bo Bardi.