Galeria Nara Roesler | Rio de Janeiro is holding Arquiteturas do Imaginário [Architectures of the Imaginary], a group show that deals with the built space and its relation with the public based on a selection of 15 artists: Abraham Palatnik, Alberto Baraya, Alexandre Arrechea, Artur Lescher, Dan Graham, Daniel Senise, Eduardo Coimbra, Fabio Miguez, Lucia Koch, Marco Maggi, Marcos Chaves, Paulo Bruscky, Philippe Decrauzat, Raul Mourão and René Francisco.

Accompanied by a text by Paulo Sergio Duarte, the show presents a stroll through the history of contemporary art and its dialogue with architecture, showing how artists from different backgrounds, generations, trends and practices imagine possibilities that forge connections between the artwork, the space and the public. According to the critic, 'we cannot forget that architecture is, above all, the art of organising spaces, it is therefore, also, the art of moulding the void.'

The exhibition’s title derives from the work Arquitetura do imaginário (1982), by Paulo Bruscky (Recife, 1949). Produced originally in Super-8 format during a stay by the artist in New York, made possible by a Guggenheim grant received the previous year, the video consists of a series of recordings of the local cityscape, highlighting the traces left by demolished buildings. These vestiges, unusual details of the urban space that normally go unperceived, operate as a memory of the previously existing architectural structures.

This insightful look at the built space and the appropriation of elements from day-to-day life–or from the cityscape–in the development of the artworks is the common thread running through the selection of works featured in this group show.

Press release courtesy Galeria Nara Roesler.