(this page was last updated in November 2017)
The PIPA Prize Exhibition 2017 takes place at the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM-Rio) from September 23rd to November 26th and presents artworks by the four finalists of the eighth edition of PIPA Prize: Antonio Obá, Bárbara Wagner, Carla Guagliardi and Éder Oliveira.
Coming from very different backgrounds – each of the finalists lives in a different region of Brazil –, the four artists share, in the words of PIPA Institute Curator Luiz Camillo Osorio, “a commitment towards their own expressive truth without concessions”.
Nominated for PIPA Prize for the first time in 2017, Antonio Obá decided to address the topic of Brazilian identity in “Ambiente com Espelhos” (“Ambiance with Mirrors”). The installation is formed by a series of old frames whose mirrors have been replaced by iron plates. Each is accompanied by a monotype portraying a part of the artist’s body. The pieces intent to question the very idea of a national identity: just like these mirror-like structures, such a notion reveals itself to be quite empty and vague.
– In the end, my proposal is to problematize the fact that, at the same time you can see yourself – it still is a kind of mirror –, it doesn’t offer you any precision, it’s always doubtful. It doesn’t portray a precise identity; instead, it reflects a fragile, fleeting one.
Antonio Obá, “Ambiente com Espelhos” [Ambience with Mirrors], 2017. Photo by Jaime Acioli.
Bárbara Wagner participated in the Finalists’ Exhibition with two series, both about typical Northeastern dances. The first, “The Courtege”, portrays a group of a traditional Brazilian dance called Maracatu moments before they leave for a Carnaval parade. The second, “Set to Go”, produced in partnership with Benjamin de Burca, features both photos and a video to understand how can movements so different such as those of pop and frevo (another regional dance) can be performed by the same body.
Bárbara Wagner, “The Courtege”, 2013. Photo by Jaime Acioli.
Carla Guagliardi brought to the Finalists’ Exhibition the latest developments of the sculptural research she became famous for. Her installation, “Fuga II” (“Fugee II”) is made out of concrete blocks and copper tubes, all connected with rubber wires. Again, the themes that have been following the artist for the last thirty years reappear, such as mobility and immobility, temporality and atemporality, lightness and heaviness.
Carla Guagliardi, “Fuga II” [Fugee II], 2017. Photo by Jaime Acioli.
Finally, Éder Oliveira reproduced, in the museum walls, one of his works from the series “Arquivamento” (“Filing”). The project consists on painting huge, primary-coloured portraits of people pointed out as criminals by Belém do Pará’s yellow press.
– The idea is to question why these people are always the ones linked to vulnerability and criminality situations – explains Oliveira, adding that these individuals usually have their faces printed everywhere without having a proper judgement beforehand. A painter by mètier, he painted the wall in only three days, during the mounting of the exhibition.
Éder Oliveira, site-specific at MAM-Rio for the “Arquivamento” [Filing] series, 2017. Photo by Jaime Acioli.
The finalists run for the main category of PIPA Prize, to be decided by the Award Jury, worth R$130,000. Part of this amount is used to fund the winner’s participation in a three-month artistic residency programme at Residency Unlimited, in New York.
They also compete for PIPA Prize Popular Vote Exhibition, which awards the artist with the highest number of votes given by the visitors during the course of the exhibition with R$24,000. Located within the exhibition area, the ballots were open from September 23rd to November 5th.
The winners of both categories will be announced on November 18th, date in which PIPA Prize eighth edition’s catalog will be launched.
View more photos of PIPA Prize 2017 Exhibition at MAM-Rio:
View photos from the opening day (September 23rd) of the PIPA Prize 2017 finalists exhibition:
Experience PIPA Lounge through a series of images:
PIPA’s exhibition has a lounge area dedicated to the audience. In this space the visitor can leave a comment, vote on his favourite finalist, see catalogues from previous years, and watch the video with the four finalists ( the same you can watch on the link below).
Watch the exhibition’s making-of video, produced by Do Rio Filmes: