“At any spark” is the name of the exhibition by José Bento, born in Bahia and living in Belo Horizonte since the 1960s, which will be at the Art Gallery of the Centro Cultural Unimed-BH Minas. Curated by Rafael Perpétuo and co-curated by Clarice Steinmüller, installations and works by José Bento will be exhibited that will lead the public to reflect on environmental and social issues.
It can be said that José Bento is one of the greatest and last sculptors in the country. “I say this because the artist works in the same way that Donatello (Italian Renaissance sculptor) worked, as Antônio Francisco Lisboa (Aleijadinho) did: chipping away at wood, sanding, polishing – of course today there is equipment that helps with this, but the chisel is still the main tool.”, observes curator Rafael Perpétuo.
The exhibition explores a little explored aspect of José Bento's work. “Usually when talking about José Bento’s work, one mentions the language of sculpture, the Minas Gerais genealogy of the use of wood in art, the mimetics of objects made of other materials and, mainly, the environmental issue – both the fact that he did not use deliberately cut trees to preserve nature. We thought about the elements that are at the threshold of the works: fire and air, that is, how these works are ready to incinerate, both conceptually and physically”, says Rafael.
Fire is present very intensely in the exhibition. “The fascination is not exactly in the fire, but in the idea of what fire can cause! It's everything you think about when you see fuel and oxidizer nearby: imminence!”, reveals the curator. This observation, according to Rafael Perpétuo, points to artistic creation. “And we can use this as a concept to talk about art: being an artist means taking a risk, it means believing in what you are doing, beyond immediate thinking. So the fire means that, the imminent risk,” he says.
In the Gallery, there are installations that dialogue with the imminent idea of combustion, of transformation into ash, of ephemerality. “In the exhibition, we selected works that deal with this, be it the installation “Air” with its oxygen (fuel) cylinders, or “From dust to dust” which contains matches that should not, but can, catch fire. In addition to these, we added “Mona”, who appears as a vigilante”, says Rafael. The curator explains that this is not an exaltation of fire, but of what its symbolism reveals. “What matters to us in this exhibition is fire as an element that moves things from their place. Having the fire in your hand means being attentive,” he says.
