MAURO RESTIFFE

Selected from the archive compiled by the artist over the last 30 years, the exhibition explores a broad concept of the genre, comprising a set of characters that go beyond the human face and recognise the landscape itself as a figure. Turning his lens to the corners, to what would be the backstage of the scene, Restiffe captures some extraordinary links in ordinary human experience. ‘These are images of a daily practice of photography, of being present with the camera and recording everyday scenes’, says the artist.

The exhibition, reflecting the very concept of expanded portrait that guides the selection of works, takes place in two separate installs. This way, the public will have the opportunity to travel through the artist’s pictorial universe in two moments that, together, reinforce the formal and psychological lexicon established in his photographs. An essay by curator Bernardo José de Souza develops critical thinking about the exhibitions.

Mauro Restiffe is included in the 34^th Bienal de São Paulo presenting a large-scale photographic installation composed of three series: ‘Empossamento’ (2003), ‘Empossamento Revisitado’ (2003)—from the inauguration President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—and ‘Inominável’ (2019)—recorded 16 years later on the day of Jair Bolsonaro’s inauguration.

Recent solo exhibitions include: History as Landscape, OGR (Turin, Italy, 2019); São Paulo, Fora de Alcance, Instituto Moreira Salles (Poços de Caldas, Brazil, 2019; São Paulo, Brazil, 2018; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2014); Álbum, Estação Pinacoteca (São Paulo, Brazil, 2017); Post-Soviet Russia 1995–2015, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Moscow, Russia, 2016). The artist has participated in several group shows, including Gwangju Biennale (Gwangju, South Korea, 2018), Aichi Triennial (Nagoya, Japan, 2016); Cuenca Biennial (Ecuador, 2014); Bienal de São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil, 2006); and Panorama of Brazilian Art (São Paulo, Brazil, 2013 and 2005).