Curated by João Mourão and Luís Silva, maat is presenting the first survey exhibition of the Brazilian artist Jonathas de Andrade in Portugal: a group of works spanning the entirety of the artist's career, ranging from photography to video, from sculpture to installation, allowing the audience to become familiar with one of the most idiosyncratic and interesting contemporary artistic practices.
Jonathas de Andrade’s practice, collaborative by nature, speculates on the shortcomings of utopias, ideals, and world views in Latin America, more specifically in the Northeast of Brazil, and the northeastern identity. His works address issues related to the universe of work and contemporary identity, almost exclusively by deconstructing the male body, and tend to evoke nostalgia, eroticism, and historical and political criticism. Even though the presence of the male body has taken centre stage in Jonathas de Andrade's practice throughout the years, it has never been perceived as a research or a topic in and of itself, but rather as a tool to inquire into other issues. Eye – Spark attempts to correct this by reversing that premise and focusing on the role men, their bodies in all their erotic splendour, as well as their clandestine meeting spots, have had in the construction of a very nuanced and ambiguous, at times conflicting and contradictory, homoerotic gaze.
The show is co-produced by maat with CRAC Alsace, in France, where it was presented during the Summer of 2022.