CORPO DE PROVA: Curadoria Camila Bechelany

“Corpo de Prova” considers the practice of sculpture in its relationship with the body and its possibilities with materials and space. Curated by Camila Bechelany, the exhibition brings together around 20 works by artists Claudio Cretti, Manuel Brandazza and Raphaela Melsohn, who present themselves as forces coexisting with the viewer, in constant negotiation.

Bringing together three artists who explore the intersections between sculpture, material and the body in different ways, the exhibition examines how form can be ‘molded’ through the manipulation of rigid or malleable materials, the reconfiguration of everyday objects and the invocation of bodily memory. The works presented suggest that to create a form is also to question its limits and reimagine its possibilities in relation to space.

Ceramics, wood, metal, paint and many other materials are mixed to give the shapes and create the features that make up each work. Claudio Cretti presents an unprecedented series of works, whose sculptural production is emphasized by the diversity of materials and the structural character of the forms, which can also be seen in a series of monotypes with the addition of graphite, watercolor and collage.

Manuel Brandazza, a guest artist, uses textile art, murals and ceramics as the main language in his creations. His most recent productions evoke the fictional and spiritual universe of the Paraná River through sinuous, circular and expansive textures worked with fabrics and clay. The river is the starting point, the first surreal landscape, a universal paradise that founds peoples and offers the cultivation of the noblest virtues for the continuity of life.

The artist Raphaela Melsohn, also invited to Corpo de Prova, presents ceramic sculptures. Physicality, the connection between people and how space structures relationships, are the premise of her work. Raphaela, however, uses various materials and languages in her research and is interested in building objects and spaces that involve the presence of bodies, provoking alternatives through collaboration, contamination and non-hierarchization. Cracks, flows, holes, organic shapes and footprints present in her work tension and reconfigure social and spatial norms.