Anatomia da ruína

by: Gabriel Augusto

The exhibition inaugurates the Muddernissage concept in which work and author converge in the rupture of the understanding of the meaning of a museum of rubble.

“Contemporary modalities of demolition are crystallizing, profoundly putting into question the classic dichotomies form/matter, matter/materials, material/immaterial, natural/artificial and end/means.”

Achille Mbembe, Brutalism

“The face is a politics.”

Deleuze & Guatarri, A Thousand Plateaus, v.2

“Did you hear? It is the sound of your world collapsing

It is our world coming back…”

Zapatista Army of National Liberation, December 21st, 2012.

The invitation for Gabriel Augusto to sign the first individual exhibition inside the collective of this de-museum comes from a basic concept: those who were near should remain near! We call those who are close, who somehow lived here. Gabriel gave birth to his creatures, bringing them to the open world of MUDDA, since our anti-opening. There is a dark gabrielian faceness in the end of the second floor corridor that merges and merks the tiles scorched by soot. Gabriel’s faceness also lives in diferent rooms in the building, including the room vicinal to where the exhibit takes place.

It is, therefore, a single day exhibition, regarding specific works, and permanently transitory for others, which are part of the anthropic collection of Museu do Depois do Amanhã (MUDDA, the Museum of the After Tomorrow).

Exhibition that exhibits corporified nightmares of a rottened society, that lost its link with the dream, and now can only quiver and shiver.

Gabriel’s figures are not frightening: it’s the face of the world that is heinous.

And more: it’s the construction of the esthetics of the astonishment that is poor, and mean above all, as it blinds us to the real monsters: white billionaires from the global North, eating the planet as we are turned into pieces in the bloody gutters of history.

Gabriel’s shapes, commonly seem as frightening, carry with them profoundly subtle gestures. Dwells in the atrocious face-body a collection of fine elaboration, the weight of the metal molten and twisted by Gabriel almost floats like the priest who flew with his balloons.

After the astonishment: there’s subtlety!

Brutalism and tenderness organically fusing, like the melted iron by him. Gabriel’s brutalism is Achille Mbembe’s brutalism corporified. The latter is about economy as a grinding, perforating, burning and sucking planet machine, the first create some possible anatomy for this body in the world.

The most collective of all the individual exhibitions made has Bulacha and Ferdz, with the machine that massively marks white walls, interlocutors par excellence, welcoming among letters Gabriel’s works. Laís Rocha, with her panel, camouflaged with fungi, brings an alert-invitation under the first layer. Surely one of the most singular works in the anthropic collection of Mudda. Paulo Paiva and William Trapo are also there, an essential participation, present on the walls, but also in the guts and the joints of this project since its beginning. Ricarjones with his barbie paste-up poster flows and glows on the mossed wall. Dayana Silva can also be seen there, as well as Montefusco, Morai and Marcelo Viana.

It’s important to remember that every wall in the gallery was once painted in white by some artist before the painting was hanged. We only have an individual where an erasure takes place!

Come and live Gabriel Augusto’s monstrosities in this hot afternoon, welcomed by the shadows of what still shines.