CILDO MEIRELES

In the large gallery space, the installation Uma a sete cadeiras [One and Seven Chairs], (1997-2023)begins with the structure of a simple kitchen chair, then reconfigures its presence in differentmaterials: acrylic, sawdust, ash, and canvas. In one iteration of the chair, Meireles foregrounds theabsence of the object, presenting an acrylic tower with an interior that reveals the emptiness of thechair itself. ‘I am interested in this evanescent thing, that is, a kind of dissolution of the object. Thereis a desire to play with the faculty of seeing through a sort of invisibility of invisibility,’ says the artistof the enduring theme of emptiness throughout his practice. This installation and its title, a referenceto Joseph Kosuth’s One and Three Chairs (1965), embrace the conceptual nature of abstract thoughtand its root in objects. As in all of Meireles’s installations, there is a quality of transformation, subtlehumor, and wonder.

Camouflages continues this investigation of form and perception in the presentation of paintings,marking a return to the practice by Meireles in tribute to masters of the medium such as JasperJohns, Kazimir Malevich, and the Brazilian modernist Alfredo Volpi. In works from this series,Meireles paints directly on objects, among them umbrellas, chairs, and tents. Meireles selects objectsthat are comprised of a common formal basis: a structure and fabric. The artist’s acrylic on canvaspaintings substitute for these fabric components, mirroring their aesthetic conventions. In the wordsof the artist, the series ‘basically comprehends paintings on various chassis, which refer to afunctionality. Camouflaged paint on benches, chairs, umbrellas, common objects for daily use.’ Otherpaintings on view render the three-dimensional chair in two dimensions; two épuras draw upondescriptive geometry to present the chair from three vantage points across two perpendicular planes,conveying Meireles’s artistic thought through the joining of painting and mathematical rationality.This collection of works asks viewers to question ‘what is painting?’ and ‘what is the truestrepresentation of an object: the thing itself, or the idea of it?’