Descripción de la Exposición
Baró announces its upcoming program Baró Generations, with an aim to give a platform to younger artists and curators within the established art scene.
Its introductory exhibition VANDL ART, a project by Brazilian curator Victor Valery (1994, Santos) promotes, for the first time in Europe, the art and thoughts of three ultra-contemporary Brazilian artists: Antonio Kuschnir (2001, Rio de Janeiro), Brenda Nicole (1998, Campinas) and JAMEX (2001, Salvador de Bahia). The boom of their careers in recent years and their progressive presence in institutions and collections inside and outside Brazil, are explained not only by the need of the art market to invest and incorporate new names, but also by the quality and uniqueness of their work, one of the main concerns of Baró Galería and VANDL ART since its origins.
● “Our proposal is to present the artists from their individuality, interrelating and establishing new connections between three places as distant as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador de Bahia.
The artist JAMEX, in “JAMEX as an idea”, suggests a narrative that discusses experience and personal fulfillment, while promoting the emancipation of the artistic thought through urban symbolism.
Antonio Kuschnir invites us to observe his perception of "Intimacy" and makes us reflect on our own. The works in his series present scenes of affection, with a certain humor and delicacy, and propose to the viewer an experience of self-knowledge.
Brenda Nicole's VUDÚ PUNK universe demands an exercise in unraveling. In her layered art, the artist relates subconscious experiences and provokes the viewer to risk following in her footsteps.
VANDL ART is a collective, an art movement and an independent institution that invites us to reflect on our own physical and emotional existence, our intimacy and also the most delicate mysteries of the unconscious.”
Victor Valery
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Entwining those three artists in one space, Baró offers a truly unprecedented and multifaceted experience regarding the development of Contemporary Art since the 60’s and the ongoing research of young artists that confronts a culture of language, performance, concept and experiences, connecting artists physically and conceptually. Baró, together with the effort of the artists, offers a unique artistic experience, this time in collaboration with VANDL ART.
Graduated in Cultural Production, Victor Valery (1994, Santos, Brazil) works in the art market, curating and representing artists internationally. Recent projects include the agency of artists Antonio Kuschnir, Brenda Nicole, Daniel Jaén, JAMEX, Josh Brandão, Raquel Pater, Ricardo Bueno and Samuel de Saboia.
In 2019 he inaugurated his apartment-gallery in the Higienópolis neighborhood of São Paulo. The space functions as an art office, with exhibitions, courses and conservation of its artists' collection. She also developed the educational material and Bjõrk Talks during the exhibition "Björk Digital" at MIS-SP and later for CCBB. Since 2018 it has promoted its artists internationally with partnerships in art, music, fashion and technology by VANDL ART.
VANDL ART (Since 2018 - located in São Paulo and Madrid) is an art platform created by Victor Valery (@victorvalery). VANDL ART is an independent art label that celebrates individuality. The brand's mission is to represent multidisciplinary artists, introducing them to the world of fashion, music, culture and digital production, elevating their market values and maintaining dialogue with their roots. VANDL ART invites its ever-growing audience to imagine the culture of tomorrow through the eyes of its artists.
Antonio Kuschnir, “Intimacy” (2001, Rio de Janeiro)
The definition of intimacy is complex, as it varies according to the relationship - and is not necessarily linked to sex, but to affection. The very title of the exhibition introduces the universe we are about to enter. There is an invitation to listen, reflect and identify with the figures represented, which are bodies in dialogue with computer monitors, mobile phones and still lifes - images and objects that are around us on a daily basis.
Antonio Kuschnir's “Intimacy” occupies Baró Galeria with naked and unconventional figures. Exhibited for the first time in Europe, the oil paintings, produced between 2019 and 2022, oscillate between dramatic and delicate, as well as suggesting the mise en abyme, in homage to classical painters, as in Privacy in the things of love (2020), one of the highlights of the exhibition.
The artist's interest is to demystify and normalize the body (whether it is naked or not), regardless of its shape or color. "The reaction I want to cause is one of comfort, of love, of tranquility in general," Antonio comments in an interview about Intimacy. "No painting in this series has objectives beyond seeking the complete and broad acceptance of all bodies and their loves," adds the artist. In addition to the experience of self-knowledge, the exhibition invites the visitor to reflect on the political importance of non-hegemonic bodies in the social context.
Brenda Nicole, “VUDÚ PUNK” (1998, Campinas, São Paulo)
An exercise is necessary to enter the universe of Brenda Nicole. As in a meditation, the spectator must have a light mind and be free of prejudices, be they aesthetic, sound or class prejudices. Whoever observes her paintings, for example, has to be prepared to venture into the chaotic and dense territory of her works. Like in a recurring dream - or nightmare - her art is made up of layers: at first it may seem complex, but after a careful observation these scenarios suggested by Brenda lead us and allow us to understand each idea present in her works.
"When I go to think about a series, as much as it is a delirium, I start painting thinking about people I know; I portray their emotions and transform them into creatures. It's not visible, it's a voodoo kind of thing. Spirituality has always been in my life and it's in the paintings, it comes from this affliction and the street, which is the punk (movement)," adds the artist in an interview for Harper's Bazaar in 2021.
“VUDÚ PUNK” oscillates between discomfort and enchantment, inviting the viewer to reflect on loneliness, happiness, feelings of love and loss, affection and violence, and especially on self-knowledge, as in Rio sagrado (Sacred River) (2022), where Brenda, influenced by surrealism and cubism currents, addresses the fluidity of the construction of thought, language and being based on the elements around her.
JAMEX, “JAMEX as an idea” (2001, Salvador de Bahia)
"I absorb everything I see. I listen, imagine and insert it into my own art. And so each work of mine becomes alive and genuine." “JAMEX as an idea” illustrates the artist's dialogue with insurgent contemporary movements in the creative and multicultural youth of Salvador, Bahia, and how these experiences shape his artistic vision.
JAMEX allows us to reflect on his coexistence as both an idea and an artist, both of which are not without their afflictions. In this way, his works come to embody a pulsating narrative about doubt, experience and realization. The artist dives into different references and temporalities, such as in the work Jean-Michel (2022), in which he portrays the American painter Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) with a certain provocation and updating of signs by making it clear that, even among those considered "geniuses", doubt can arise - "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know".
“JAMEX as an idea” promotes the emancipation of his artistic thought and establishes him as a genuine and inconsistent being, allowing his works, often built from the synthesis of experiences in the streets, to be elaborated with unconventional supports and techniques. In this way JAMEX reinforces a metaphysical look on his craft, defending that the artist can also be the idea that leads the spectator to different understandings about what Art is.
Exposición. 19 nov de 2024 - 02 mar de 2025 / Museo Nacional del Prado / Madrid, España
Formación. 23 nov de 2024 - 29 nov de 2024 / Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) / Madrid, España
