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Adhesive 20 (Cavellini), 2001. Stickers, construction level, plexiglass. 15 3/4 x 50 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (40 x 129.3 x 3.9 cm). Photo: Erma Estwick. Courtesy: Brent Sikkema.
a concrete evidence of the time and place of the crime perpetrated by the artist. Os Cem (Roda) (The One Hundred [Wheel]), 1987, perhaps the most eloquent of the bank note pieces, is a wheel made up of hundreds of devalued one hundred bills resting on the floor and held up together by a hidden stainless steel cord (information provided by the work’s caption), its visible signs of mass manipulation providing an uncanny tactile and sculptural quality. On the more pictorial side, some of the recent wall Adhesivos (Adhesive), 2000-2001, are pieces of glass upon which a large and varied number of stickers have been arranged taking into consideration their size, shape, color or origin—from cargo or mail stickers to museums or shopping ones—providing irresistible abstract geometric compositions which reference constructivism and Op Art on the high end, and our own teenage glass windows and closet doors on the low end. The construction level placed at the back of some of the mostly horizontal wall Adhesivos, and visible
through the glass, winks at the proper and rigid rules of balance, composition and form of constructivism as well as of mid-century Paulistano concretismo. In fact, Leirner could be contextualized within a certain Paulistano tradition of abstract painting and sculpture, which remains extremely strong to date, and which unlike the Rio de Janeiro tradition, veers away from more contaminated references to the body and everyday life. The artist’s upbringing amidst what is one of the finest Brazilian collections of geometric abstraction that belonged to her father Adolpho Leirner, certainly provided copious visual material for her to develop her fluent formal skills. Jac Leirner’s concern is with art itself, and this is very much translated in her dexterous use of and attention to sculptural and pictorial language. What distinguishes her from her Paulistano colleagues, however, is precisely how she brings these high concerns to the most ordinary, street loaded objects, dislocating and shifting circuits in a
To and From, 1991. Mixed media installation. 118 x 11 3/4 x 27 1/2 in. (300 x 30 x 70 cm.). Courtesy: Brent Sikkema.
deadpan serious, rigorous yet also playful way. I waited for this exhibition with much anticipation, and in fact since I first wrote on Leirner’s work some eight years ago, I’ve always wondered what a survey of her work could deliver. Some artists may be victimized by the presentation of large quantities of their work from different epochs exhibited under a single roof; others may simply confirm what is already known about them, for better for worse. Very few artists can manage to present a survey that surprises the most well-versed spectator, and Leirner is undoubtedly the latter. For those unable to see the real show, a look at the well-edited and designed 220-page-catalog will certainly be an enticing substitute. For all this, and considering that this is one of São Paulo most remarkable artists, it comes a surprise that the exhibition will not travel to her hometown. One hopes this is because a larger, more comprehensive exhibition will be prepared in the near future, which must then include some of the many important works by Leirner presently in foreign collection. After all, Ad Infinitum only left us wanting to see more.
Adriano Pedrosa Art critic, curator at Museo de Arte de Pampulha and Editorial Coordinator for ArtNexus in Brazil.