Alexandre da Cunha
Club Sandwich
"I like the idea of "Club Sandwich" as a comment on decoration, taste and style; as if simple ingredients became more sophisticated when arranged in a specific way – according to the way that is cut, presented and served."
Alexandre da Cunha
"If all works out, a mobile is a piece of poetry which dances and surprises by its vitality."
Alexander Calder
In his work, Alexandre da Cunha (*1969, Rio de Janeiro) uses ordinary domestic materials and puts them into a new context by lifting them from their usual environment. However, the objects he finds do not function as readymades in a Duchampian sense, as they have been worked on and changed by the artist and thus enter into a contemporary dialogue with the vocabulary and aesthetics of classical modernism. Not only are these references to art history an important element in Da Cunha's practice, but also concerns of our current times, which he picks out as a central theme by his particular way of reusing and sampling. Da Cunha's homage to modernism always contains a "gambiarra" twist – a Brazilian tradition to make do with what you have.
The new works for the exhibition include a mobile made from curtain rails, key rings and baking trays, whose brand name "Club Sandwich" gives the show its title. Large stripy paintings are made from canopy material, which are a continuation of the earlier "deck chair paintings", and are a play on abstract painting. References to categories of sculpture like busts, public artworks or obelisks appeared in recent group of works. For this show, the artist focuses on the idea of 'standing figures'. For these freestanding sculptures, he slightly alters and connects simple found elements, such as wooden walking sticks, broomsticks and tool handles. These develop a new life through minimal interventions and suddenly look as if they were carved from solid blocks of wood, to become like statues or recall parts of an armoury.
Alexandre da Cunha's works are currently on view in the following exhibitions: The Gentle Art of Collapsing the Expanded Field at Cardenas Bellanger, Paris (F) until 8 November; from October in Nova Arte, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro (BR); This is not a Void, Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo (BR) and in the autumn of 2009 at Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen (D).
Sommer & Kohl
Kurfürstenstrasse 13/14
10785 Berlin
Germany
opening 31 October 2008, 6 – 9 pm
exhibition 1 November – 20 December 2008
Wednesday – Saturday 11 am – 6 pm and by appointment
http://www.sommerkohl.com
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wow, this is a must see.
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