(São Paulo, Brazil)
The group exhibition “Taipa-Tapume”* uses the story of Galeria Leme – a building designed by architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha which has been built, demolished and then rebuilt in another site – as a motto to investigate the process of urban development of the city of São Paulo, which was marked by cycles of construction, demolition and construction. For such, the artists Alexandre Brandão, Ana Mazzei, Beto Shwafaty, Hector Zamora, Lais Myrrha, among others, were invited.
Within a century, São Paulo has ceased to be a town with colonial features made of taipa and of minor importance in the national economic scene, to become a rich coffee-producing city and then an industrial and commercial hub. These historical and urban moments were overlaid by urban development and have shaped today’s city.
This dynamic occupation of the land reveals the way in which São Paulo deals with its past and how it builds its historical narratives, evidencing the forces of power that shape the urban and social fabric of the city.
Given this historical period and this critical perspective, the exhibition articulates four cores for discussion: the building of Galeria Leme, processes of construction and destruction, the urban and architectural development of São Paulo and, finally, real estate speculation.
The presented works structure these cores, suggesting relationships between the idea of construction as material edification, with the idea of construction as conceptual elaboration. Thus, it creates a space to confront elements and typologies of the urban landscape with the processes of elaboration of historical and fictional narratives about the city of São Paulo.
*Taipa: a vernacular construction technique based of clay (mud) and gravel used for the purpose of erecting a wall; tapume: a temporary fence or cover usually used in construction sites.
Featured artists: Alexandre Brandão, Ana Mazzei, Beto Shwafaty, Bruno Baptistelli, Fábio Tremonte, Francesco Di Tillo, Hector Zamora, Jaime Lauriano, Lais Myrrha, Pablo Accinelli, Sandra Gamarra and Sandra Nakamura.
“Taipa-Tapume”, group exhibition with Alexandre Brandão, Ana Mazzei, Beto Shwafaty, Hector Zamora and Lais Myrrha
Mon-Fri, 10am-7pm; Saturdays, 10am-5pm
Galeria Leme
Av. Valdemar Ferreira, 130
+55 11 3093.8184
info@galerialeme.com