ABRAHAM PALATNIK

Palatnik’s ‘W’ series developed from his ‘Progressive Reliefs’ series, which he had been working on since the sixties to explore the material potential of his compositions. The process begins with the artist making a pair of non-figurative paintings on wooden plates, which are cut into long, thin, equally wide strips with laser. He then assembles them back together, intercepting strips from both paintings, as if to re-build another, yet vertically displacing the strips. These shifts give a sense of motion—the colours seem to undulate through the canvas—re-invigorating the composition with stunning optical potency. The perceived motion captures the viewer’s body, the lines seem to come closer and then to distance themselves again, continuously involving spectators and allowing for the pieces to seemingly take on new forms.

Abraham Palatnik’s works have been shown in many important exhibitions in Brazil and internationally, including a presentation at the 32a Bienal de Veneza, (1964) and at eight editions of the Bienal de São Paulo between 1951 and 1969. The exhibition at Galeria Nara Roesler | São Paulo will testify to the artist’s ability to reinvent his practice, continuously experimenting with the balance between the specificity of mechanics and the spontaneity of creativity. The show will also coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the first solo-exhibition of Abraham Palatnik at Galeria Nara Roesler.

About the artist

Abraham Palatnik is an iconic figure in the optical and kinetic art movements of Brazil—a pioneer in his long-standing interest for exploring the creative possibilities embedded in crossings of art and technology. Having studied engineering, the artist became interested in investigating mechanic uses of light and movement. In 1949, he rose to prominence with the creation of his first Aparelho Cinecromático [Kinechromatic Device] effectively reinventing the idea of a painting by using different voltage bulbs moving at different speeds and directions to create kaleidoscopic images. The piece was shown at the 1^st Bienal de São Paulo (1951) and received an Honorable Mention from the International Jury for its’ originality.

Abraham Palatnik subsequently initiated his work with reliefs, coined ‘Progressive reliefs’, which he made out of various materials (such as wood, duplex cardboard and acrylic), manually cut and intercalated to create a sense of rhythmic undulation. Apart from the series ‘W’, which has come to incorporate the use of laser-cutting, Palatnik continues to construct and paint every piece by hand, making each work a token of his craftmanship.