São Paulo, Brazil, 1979.
Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
André Midani on the solo exhibition “No No Yes Please”
That’s it….
Inevitably, one day it was going to happen. I received a call to poke my nose…. where I did belong.
And in fact I was called by Chiara Banfi to write a paper about her recent work “No No Yes Please”.
Chiara sent me pictures and I visited her at her studio – from there I understood that the invitation had been made to “Midani of the vinyl”, friend and admirer of her husband Kassin.
I was acquainted with Classical, MPB (popular Brazilian music), Jazz, Funk, Bossa Nova, R&B, Tango, Sambas, Frevos, Axé, Long Plays – but never with white or black records that had no eyes, that had no music. Records that don’t speak and only shine; records that reflect but are empty… I suffered a dramatic shock as I felt resentment facing these mutilated pieces, battered by someone who had extracted the grooves of the songs that was once stored in them.
Who had the courage to simultaneously transform these naked, blind, virgin and raped long plays, but Chiara herself? Impossible, it could not be smiley Chiara violating the entity of the “vinyl” already murdered by virtual and physical piracy for so long…impossible. It cannot be!
But suddenly, meditating on this “impossibility” and looking once again at the text transcribed by Leonilson’s own hand “no no yes please” – on a record sleeve originally for records of 78 rotation of 30 centimeters of diameters – my phonographic emotions and musical self-references were hushed, overcome by this white, beige, black world of spotless graphic where the square and circle complement each other so aesthetically and harmoniously…
I discovered a work of rare aesthetic quality, where serenity and luminosity convey a “peaceful” tranquility …
After the storm.
Chiara’s exhibition is pure poetry and like all pure poetry she suggests infinite paths to be followed … Chiara, loved your talent and loved to be invited!
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Paula Alzugaray on the solo exhibition “Notações”
Last week, on 12 February, science celebrated a great discovery: confirmed the theory of gravitational waves of Albert Einstein and in addition, the existence of the “sound of the universe” provided by the scientist 100 years ago.
But it was before that the artist Chiara Banfi looked at the stars of the sky for vibrations that we can not hear. This happened around 2011, when another scientific breakthrough happened: a space probe recorded for the first time in history the sound of a comet. The series of sounds released by ESA (European Space Agency) had to be edited to be posted on YouTube, as the emitted waves oscillated between the frequencies of 40 and 50 millihertz, far below what the human ear can pick up. For this, the frequency was increased in 10 thousand times.
Based on the premise that sounds are electromagnetic vibrations that are released by celestial or terrestrial matters, Chiara Banfi started a research on the sound of the minerals. Another decisive factor for the definition of this work spectrum was the discovery that the turntable’s needle has quartz. “I was in doubt between preparing an experiment in the scientific line, trying to extract the sound of the stones, but I preferred to think of following the path of a silent symphony,” says Banfi seLecT. The result of this research about non perceived oscillations by the human senses is “Notations”, the sixth of the artist at Galeria Vermelho, in São Paulo.
Here, Rose Quartz, White Quartz, Tourmaline Black and obsidian (volcanic mineral) are connected and tensioned via RCA cables, strings and tuning pegs of an acoustic bass, forming a vast collection of objects approaching the scores, sheet music and musical instruments. In honor of the composer Claude Debussy, who said that music is the silence in between the notes, Banfi has produced not only the series of drawings Debussy Studies (2016), but the entire exhibition concept, which revolves around pauses and silences filled with sonorities.
Solo Exhibitions
2016
-“Notações”, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
2013
– “Gravações Perdidas”, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “No No Yes Please”, Galeria Silvia Cintra + Box4, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2012
– “Sunburst”, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
2011
– “O papel do jardim”, Galeria Silvia Cintra + Box4, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2010
– “KOTO”, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “Place to Be”, GaleryRio, Nantes, France.
2009
– “LUGAR”, Camara de Comércio de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia.
2007
– “Mirante”, Galeria Lunara, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
– “Pausa”, Galeria Vemelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
2006
– “Cruzamentos– Caminhos”, DRCLAS, Cambridge, USA.
– “Cruzamentos”, Encontros”,Boston Arts Academy, Boston, USA.
– “Sweet Melody”, LABF15, Lyon, France.
2005
– “Firehouse”, De Vleeshal, Middelburg, Netherlands.
– “Viga Mestra”, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
2004
– “Várias Marés”, Espaço ECCO, Brasília, Brazil.
– “Open Studios”, Gasworks, London, UK.
Group Exhibitions
2016
– “Natureza Franciscana”, Museum of Modern Art (MAM SP), São Paulo, Brazil.
2015
– “Imagine Brazil”, DHC/Art Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montreal, Canada.
– “Intervenções Públicas ArtRio”, Museum of the Republic, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
– Ruído, Oficina Oswald Andrade, São Paulo, Brazil.
2014
– “Huna, Hunak: Here/There”, Al Riwaq Exhibition space Doha, Qatar.
– “Imagine Brazil”, MAC Lyon, Lyon, France.
2013
– “Imagine Brazil” (Artist’s Books), Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway.
– “Além da Biblioteca”, Frankfurt 2013 Book Fair- Frankfurt, Germany.
– “Além da Biblioteca”, Itochu Aoyama Art Square, Tokyo, Japan.
– “Brasil Vívido”, Sotheby’s, New York, USA.
– “Prospect 1”, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, USA.
– “Tomie Ohtake Correspondências”, Institute Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil.
2011
– “Contra a Parede”, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “32º Panorama da arte Brasileira”, Museum of Modern Art [MAM SP], São Paulo, Brazil.
– “Convivendo com Arte [diálogos do moderno ao contemporâneo]”, Torre Santander, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “Miradas Sin Coordenadas”, Galería 80m2 Arte & Debates, Lima, Peru.
2010
– “Paralela 2010”, A contemplação do mundo, Liceu de Artes e Ofício, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “Quem tem medo?”, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
2009
– “Artérias e Capilares”, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “pH Neutro”, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
2008
– “Blooming Brasil-Japão, O seu lugar”, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan.
– “Exposição de Verão”, Galeria Silvia Cintra-Box 4, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2007
– “Futuro do Presente”, Institute Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, Brazil.
2006
– “10 anos + 1, Os anos recentes da arte brasileira”, Institute Tomie Othake, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “Paralela”, Prodan, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “Urban Spaces”, DNA Galerie, Berlin, Germany.
– “Rumos” Itaú Cultural 2005/2006 Artes Visuais, Institute Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “Rumos” Itaú Cultural 2005/2006 Artes Visuais, Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
– “Rumos” Itaú Cultural 2005/2006 Artes Visuais, Casa das Onze janelas, Belém, Brazil.
– “Rumos” Itaú Cultural 2005/2006 Artes Visuais, Dragão do Mar, Fortaleza, Brazil.
2005
– “Além da Imagem”, Cultural Centre Telemar, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
– “Panorama”, Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo [MAM SP], São Paulo, Brazil.
– “Verbo”, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “J’en Rêve”, Fondation Cartier, Paris, France
2004
– “Tudo Aquilo que Escapa”, 46°Pernambucano Fine Arts Salon, Espaço Cícero Dias do Museu do Estado, Recife, Brazil.
– “Prêmio Chamex de Arte Jovem”, Institute Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “Underground, Corpo de Baile”, Sesc Consolação, São Paulo, Brazil.
2003
– “Yba, Young Brazilian Artists”, Galeria André Viana, Porto, Portugal.
– “Sem Título, Chiara Banfi, (A Operação Ilegal/ O Lugar Do Homem)”, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “Figura 4”, Espaço Bananeiras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
– “Corpo de Baile”- Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil.
– “Metacorpos, Corpo de Baile”, Paço das Artes, São Paulo, Brazil.
– 35° Anual de Arte, FAAP, São Paulo, Brazil.
2002
– 34° Anual de Arte, Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado [FAAP], São Paulo, Brazil.
Grants & Residencies
2013
– URRA, Art Residency of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2008
– Mountain School of Arts, Los Angeles, USA.
Awards
2013
– Acquisition Award EFG Bank and ArtNexus
2004
– Art in Residency Programme at Gasworks Gallery, 1° place Chamex Young Art Award, London, UK.
2003
– Bolsa-Prêmio, 35° Annual Art, FAAP, São Paulo, Brazil.
Public Collections
– Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
– De Vleeshal, Middelburg, Netherlands
– Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
– Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, USA
– Gilberto Chateaubriand Collection, Museum of Modern Art [MAM RJ], Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Video produced by Matrioska Filmes exclusively for PIPA 2010:
