TRAMAS E TRAVESSIAS – PARTE I (A Troca) / THREADS AND CROSSINGS – PART I (The Exchange)

With Dan Coopey, Mano Penalva, Manuela Costa Lima, Marcelo Pacheco, Nino Cais and Moisés Patricio

On view at Massapê Projetos, 68 rua Fortunato, Santa Cecilia, São Paulo, Brazil from October 16th until October 23rd 2021

Just like the words in a poem point out a certain path, an artwork signals fragments of a soul, of a thinking, of a singular form to see the world, This is the artist´s gift, his particular lens that he has to accept and recognize, feed and share, adorning the other´s daily life. By taking on this role, the artist turns his gift into a present for the other, as in the Moitará, Kula or Potlach´s exchanges.

Tramas e Travessias gathers in this place of dialogue, through the observation of the ordinary, the daily life objects and their circulation, the artists Dan Coopey, Manuela Costa Lima, Mano Penalva, Marcelo Pacheco, Moisés Patrício and Nino Cais; each of them giving new meanings to the banal displaced int the contemporary art realm.

Dwelling on the object and its adornments as an offering, one can have a glimpse of the mute narratives of its place of origin, the road it took before arriving to other shores and in other hands, the emotional charge of its initial components being multiplied and sublimated by the artistic intervention.

 Like this, Dan Coopey´s match box arrangement evoke a nostalgia of past times while Nino Cais seems to comment our society´s structure with a sculpture made of elements of male clothing and of the domestic universe. In Dan Coopey and Mano Penalva´s detached narratives, the intertwined plastic ties Coopey uses in place of their vegetal equivalent mimic a post industrial palm tree and dialogue with Penalva´s series of expanded paintings of the Alçadas series made of raffia bag handles. Both artists open a window to a world of fluxes of bindings and wrappings. Entering a more intimate sphere, pillowcases and clothing become collages in Marcelo Pacheco´s work and Manuela Costa Lima´s Infiltrados (infiltrators) hide on the façade or in the middle of plants, denying their traditional function as a highlight for artworks. Eventually, Moisés Patricio reminds, with a photography of the Aceita (Do You Accept) series, Spring and the ritual space of art, as well as the symbolic charge of art as a present.

Parallel to SP Arte, emblematic fair of circulation and of consumption of artworks, Tramas e Travessias comes back to the essence of art as a space of dialogue and affection in an open conversation between the artists represented in the show and the artists of the neighboring studio who rearranged their workspace in a communal way, and with the public; just as described in the Gift  by Lewis Hyde. Creativity and art are essential to see through, grasp and deal with the world, they art gifts that feed and need to be shared, move around to spread their narratives generously, beyond market issues. Art has the power to provoke new emotions and reasonings, unprecedented solutions and poetics to wrap up our troubles and wounds. Art cradles, as the movement of the hammock that soothes. Art triggers, moves and enchants, art has a unique sway that grows as it is shared.

This is a poem—a carol of words—these are hints of
meanings,

These are to echo the tones of Souls, and the phrases
of Souls;

If they did not echo the phrases of Souls, what were
they then?

If they had not reference to you in especial, what were
they then?

Walt Whitman – Carol of words, Leaves of Grass  

DAN COOPEY

Born 1981, Gloucestershire, UK; lives and works in São Paulo.

Solo exhibitions include, Brunches no Wonderwerk, Espaço C.A.M.A, São Paulo (2021), Sunday at Galeria Estação, São Paulo (2019), Interiors at Pivô, São Paulo (2017); Dry at Kubikgallery, Porto (2017); lalahalaha at Belmacz, London (2015); Laura_UpsideDown at the Institute of Jamais Vu, London (2012); Position 1 at The Agency, London (2010); and Doodad at the Hayward Gallery project space (2009). In 2011 he was commissioned by Up Projects and Arts Council England to produce a touring public installation work. Recent group exhibitions include, Joseph Beuys (a reader), Belmacz, London (2021), Tramas e Travessias Parte I (A Troca), massape Projetos, São Paulo, Mingei Now, curated by Nicolas Trembley at Sokyo Gallery, Kyoto (2019), (o) curated by Caterina Duncan at Galeria Leme, São Paulo (2018), Rhapsodies at Ping Pong, Brussels (2018); The Peaceful Dome at The Bluecoat, Liverpool (2017); Neither curated by Fernanda Brenner at Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2017); Fourth Drawer Down at Nottingham Contemporary (2014); The World is Almost 6000 Years Old at The Collection, Lincoln, as part of a citywide exhibition curated by Tom Morton (2013); Binary at ReMap4, Athens (2013); Slate, a collaboration with Laura Buckley and Rob Smith as part of Festivela at Gallery Vela, London (2012) and Turner Contemporary, Margate (2013); Glaze curated by George Henry Longly at Galerie Chez Valentin, Paris, and Bischoff Weiss, London (2011/12); and Things That Have Interested Me at Waterside Contemporary, London (2012)

MANO PENALVA

Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, 1987, Lives and works in São Paulo.

Mano Penalva documents the material culture and behavioral changes linked to globalization. His artworks are deliberately nonrepresentational, allowing materials to dictate form and come together on their own. His process involves his interest in anthropology and cultural education, which materializes his emergency to appropriate found and purchased articles from the street, popular markets or travels in the composition of his work, breaking down frontiers into a globalized language, subverting values and meanings and evidencing social and philosophical discourses in the forms of created objects.

His solo exhibitions include: Acordo, Central Galeria, text Juliana Monachesi, (São Paulo, Brasil, 2019); Hasta Tepito, B[X] Gallery, curatorship Julie Dumont, (Brooklyn, NY, 2018); Requebra, Frederic de Goldschmidt Collection, curatorship Julie Dumont (Bruxelas, Bélgica, 2018); TRUK(ə), Soma Galeria, curatorship Josué Mattos (Curitiba, PR,  2018); Proyecto para Monumento, Passaporte Cultural, curatorship Yunuen Sariego (Cidade do México, MX, 2017); Andejos, Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto, text Olivia Ardui ( Ribeirão Preto, SP, 2017); Estado Sul, Camelódromo, curatorship Franck Marlot (Porto Alegre, RS, 2017); Balneário, Central Galeria, text Bernardo Mosqueira (São Paulo, SP, 2016); Deslocamento, Qual Casa, text Tarciso Almeida (São Paulo, SP, 2015), project Mesmo Lugar do Jardim do Hermes. 

His group exhibitions include:  What I really want to tell you..., Atchugarry Art Center, curatorship Jeniffer Inacio ( Miami, 2019); 24º Salão Anapolino de Arte, (Anápolis, GO, 2019); RECIPES FOR A B_R_Z_L_ ?, Spring Break/UN Plaza, curatorship Tatiane Santa Rosa/AnnexB (New York, 2019); DEVANIR, HELENIRA, ZULEIKA, VLADIMIR, Duas Galerias, curatorship Wagner Nardy, (Belo Horizonte, MG, 2019); Bienal das Artes, SESC Distrito Federal, curatorship Enock Sacramento (Brasília, DF, 2018); Ser, Habitar e Imaginar, Concrete Space, curatorship Adriana Herrera (Miami, EUA, 2018); Blockchain/Alternative barter: a new method of exchange?, B[x] Gallery, curadoria Pia Coronel (Brooklyn, Ny, 2018); O Maravilhamento das Coisas, Galeria Sancovisky, curatorship Julie Dumont (São Paulo, SP, 2018); A Bela e a Fera, Central Galeria, curatorship Leda Catunda (São Paulo, SP, 2017);  Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa, Hangar, curatorship Maykson Cardoso (Barcelona, BCN, 2017); As coisas se escoram tortas, Divisão de Artes Plásticas da Uel, curatorship Danilo Villa e Ricardo Basbaum (Londrina, PR, 2017);  Área,  Espaço Saracura, curadoria Omar Porto (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 2017); Comensais, Projeto A MESA, curatorship Maykson Cardoso (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 2016); Secretaria Insegurança Pública, SAO Espaço de Arte, curatorship Caroline Carrion (São Paulo, SP, 2016); 41º SARP - Salão de Arte de Ribeirão Preto, Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto (Ribeirão Preto, SP, 2015); Arranjos, SAO Espaço de Arte, text Mariana G. Leme (São Paulo, SP, 2016); Simphony of Hunger: Digesting FLUXUS in five moviments,  A PLUS A Gallery, curatorship September Collective (Veneza, IT, 2015); CONTRAPROVA, Paço das Artes, curatorship Hermes Artes Visuais (São Paulo, SP, 2015); 22º Salão de Praia Grande (São Paulo, 2015), 40º SARP - Salão de Arte de Ribeirão Preto, Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto (Ribeirão Preto, SP, 2015);  L’imaginaire de l’enfance, Cité Internationale des Arts, curadoria Carlotta Montaldo (Paris, FR, 2015); VIDI ARTE, Mirante do Avrão, curatorship Roberta Fernandes (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 2014); If you see something, say something, Lot 45, curadoria Group BR (Brooklyn, NY, 2014). 

The awards, scholarships, and residencies in which he participated include: 26BY art residence - bruxelas, bélgica (2019), annexb - residência artística - nova york, eua (2018), penthouse art residence - residência artística - bruxelas, bélgica (2018), r.a.t - residência artística por intercâmbio cidade do méxico (2017), pop center - porto alegre, rs (2017), 41º sarp, salão de arte de ribeirão preto nacional-contemporâneo - museu de arte de ribeirão preto - ribeirão preto, sp (2016), conartist  - residência artística - nova york, eua (2014)

Public collections he is part of: Brussels, Belgium; Galila´s POC, Frédéric de Goldschmidt Collection - Brussels - Belgium; PAT Art Lab - Augsburg - Alemanha, Acervo - MARP, Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto - Brasil, Acervo da Laje - Bahia – Brasil.

MANUELA COSTA LIMA

1983, São Paulo, lives and works in São Paulo.

Graduated with a degree in Architecture and Urbanism from the storied architecture school, FAU-USP, which continues to have an impact on her practice. In addition to considerations of space and light, Costa Lima is constantly exploring her city searching for, in her words, “the other”. Her mixed media work includes sculptures, installations, drawings and other materials. She has participated in several exhibitions in Brazil, France, Portugal and the United States. Among her solo exhibitions are: NOITES BRANCAS (White Nights) at QUADRA (SP, 2021), ESCAPE ENTRóPICO (Entropic Blow-off) at QUADRA (RJ, 2019), PEDRAS ERRANTES (Wandering Rocks) at Zipper [SP, 2015] e O DUPLO (The Double) – Paraty`s House of Culture [RJ, 2014]. Costa Lima has also participated in many group shows, in Brazil and abroad. ESTAMOS AQUI at SESC PINHEIROS, (SP, 2022), TRAMAS E TRAVESSIAS at MASSAPÊ (SP, 2021), NOTHING IN ISOLATION at PABLO’S BIRTHDAY (NY 2018), QUE BARRA at ateliê397 (SP 2018), MOMENTUM at VÃO (SP, 2018), IMAGINAÇÃO DA PEDRA (Stone`s Imagination) at General Consulate of Portugal (SP, 2017), ELOGIAMOS A CASA QUE SE ABRE A PERDER DE VISTA (We praise the house which is always open) at Bolsa de Arte (SP, 2017), EXPLORE - CACN - Centre d’Art Nîmes (Nîmes - France, 2017), and CERVEIRA`s BIENNAL – resident artists group show (Cerveira - Portugal, 2016) are some of the highlights. Costa Lima completed art residencies at the prestigious PIVÔ [SP, 2019], FONTE [SP, 2018] and CERVEIRAs BIENNAL [Vila Nova de Cerveira, PORTUGAL, 2016].

MARCELO PACHECO

 Campinas, 1984, lives and works in São Paulo.

Graduated in Law from the Universidade de São Paulo in 2009. He started to paint in 2013 and to exhibit from 2016, in salons and groups shows. He got his first solo show at Sancovsky gallery in São Paulo in 2018 curated by  Douglas de Freitas. End of 2018 he moved to the artist run space and studio Massapê Projetos (SP), inaugurating a site specific work there in August 2019 as part of the exhibition “Featuring” with Thomaz Rosa and Leandro Muniz. He was nominated for the Pipa Prize in 2020. In 2021 he had solo shows at Quadra Arte gallery in Rio de Janeiro, curated by Julie Dumont and at Casa de Cultura do Parque, in São Paulo, curated by Cláudio Cretti with text by Fernanda Pitta.

MOISÉS PATRÍCIO

São Paulo, 1984, lives and works in São Paulo.

Moisés Patrício was born in the South part of São Paulo then moved to the East, nearby the city center that concentrates many of economic, cultural and historical references. He started to work as an assistant of  Juan José Balzi. Moisés Patrício is a multi-disciplinary artist working with photography, video, performance, rituals and installations that address elements of Latin American, Afro-Brazilian and African culture. A characteristic of his work is the recurring reference to the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomblé where the sacred passes through the body and its manual potentialities. Patrício got his first solo show in 2020, “Exuberância” at Estação gallery in São Paulo and participated in the following group shows: Tramas e Travessias, Massapê Projetos (São Paulo, 2021); Arte em Campo, Estádio Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho, Pacaembu  (São Paulo, 2020); Against, Again: Art Under Attack In Brazil, Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery (New Yprk, USA, Nova Iorque, 2019); Histórias Afro-Atlânticas, Museu de Arte de São Paulo - MASP and Tomie Othake Institute (São Paulo, Brasil,2018); "Exposição OSSO - apelo ao amplo direito de defesa de Rafael Braga", Instituto Tomie Ohtake (São Paulo, Brasil, 2017); Agora somos todxs negrxs?, Associação Cultural Videobrasil (São Paulo, Brasil (2017); Metropole: Experiência paulistana, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo, Brasil, 2017);  "A pureza é um mito: o monocromático na arte contemporânea", Galeria Nara Roesler (São Paulo, Brasil, 2017); Dakar Biennial, Museum of African Arts (Dakar, Senegal, 2016).

NINO CAIS

Nino Cais (Sâo Paulo, 1969) graduated in visual arts from University Santa Marcelina. Multidisciplinary artist, he works with vídeo, photography, collage, drawing, sculpture and installation; using and resignifying daily life objects or his own body. Besides Brazil, he showed in the USA, Argentina and Europe. Among group shows he participated one can highlight the São Paulo 30rd Biennial in 2012. He also had solo shows at Paço das Artes (São Paulo), Oficina Cultural Oswald de Andrade (São Paulo), Gachi Prieto gallery (Buenos Aires), Central gallery (São Paulo),a s well as more recently at Casa Triângulo (Sâo Paulo) and Fridman Gallery (New York).