Sabrina Amrani presents Brazilian artist Marlon de
Azambuja in a solo show at Art Dubai 2015
Sabrina Amrani is delighted to present Marlon de Azambuja’s project “Edicto” in a solo show
in her booth A40 at Art Dubai.
Edicto - Space Inside, 2015. Black permanent marker on glass. 70x150x38 cm. (Different installation views).
"Architecture is a thing of art, a phenomenon of the emotions, which is
outside and beyond the constructive questions."
"The purpose of all construction is to make things hold together, of
architecture to move us."
–Le Corbusier, Vers Une Architecture (1923)
In the last ten years, Marlon de Azambuja has drawn, written and read
the urban space, either literally—acting on the city itself—or
metaphorically—producing architectural images or constructive strategies. His action as an artist narrows in on a given environment and
examines it, in an attempt at rationalization based on modernist concepts, both architectural language and symbolism of power.
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But at the same time, he lives and experiences the city through an
intuitive process. With the accumulation of memories, references,
readings and personal experiences, Azambuja allows the rigid lines
associated with the Modernism to flow and infiltrate. Within the tension
created by these two poles, the artist uses various materials (concrete,
glass, ink, plastics, and words themselves), and places them in direct
opposition or inverts their functions. This operation enhances their
symbolic capacity, connecting him with Brazilian Concrete poetry, the
legacy of Conceptual Art and site-specific tradition.
Veracity, 2015. Watercolour on paper. 36x52 cm.
The project presented by Sabrina Amrani Gallery at Art Dubai 2015,
creates a unique environment conceived as a master plan for a new
city. The main axis is determined by three pieces from the Edicto
series. The title refers to the set of norms published in 1951 by the
Swiss architect Le Corbusier, which laid the foundation for the construction of the city of Chandigarh, India. This edict begins with the
declaration of human scale and harmonious connection with nature as
guiding principles for the creation of a functional capital city. This
functionality was not only practical but also symbolic as reflected in
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the design of government buildings. Azambuja joins the tradition of
the written word and the constructive thinking—lest we forget that as
an assertion of power, the Assyrians would inscribe their own edicts
within the foundations of their great palaces like in Nineveh—in what
could be called an "architecture of thought".
Centro di gravitá permanente, 2015. One bulb, nineteen cement bulbs and wire. 215x120x80 cm.
Azambuja’s "edicts" collect manifestos and phrases linked to architectural theory in both three- and two-dimensional forms: a trio of large
towers made of individual glass panes, some with painted letters,
stacked upon white bases; as also seen in the watercolors that serve
as mathematical studies for the phrased structures. The third proposal
in the booth reinforces the poetic dimension of the project: a group of
concrete bulbs, with the exception of one functioning glass lightbulb,
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strung on a single electric cable, as a metaphor for the ability to generate ideas.
The entire set, with the use of inverted materials, the playing between
delicacy and crudeness, looks to activate and empower certain
readings, giving keypoints to spark reflection. Azambuja, in returning
to Felix Gonzalez-Torres and his idea that "all culture happens in
language", "illuminates" and "transparentizes" the word into a confusing structure, where the supposed clarity of ideas require an effort
from the viewer to search for the precise angle in order to find the
construction of thought. But more interesting than this composition
edified by a rational deployment of tactics that show a single, logical
view, is the distortion of perspective. The physical embodiment of
these phrases lose us in their impossible compositions, in the multiplication of character sources and the combination of words. The gaze
that wants to rationalize — just as the artist does on his surroundings
— always holds myriad impossibilities and the need to combine ideas
for a reading on the contemporary world.
Text by Marta Ramos-Yzquierdo
Independent curator
Art Dubai 2015
18 – 21 March 2015
Sabrina Amrani Gallery
Booth A40 - Arena Hall
Madinat Jumeirah
Al Sufouh Road, Umm Suqeim
Dubai, UAE
For press inquires, please email [email protected]
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About Marlon de Azambuja
Marlon de Azambuja is a Brazilian artist,
working and living in Madrid, Spain.
Born in Sto. Antônio da Patrulha, 1978.
http://www.marlondeazambuja.com
Marlon de Azambuja's practice focuses primarily on the cultural and
aesthetic impact of architecture, urban planning, and the city as a
living, breathing entity. His works have included the use of diverse
media—drawing, photography, sculpture, installation, and video—to
create new ways of looking at the structures that surround us with the
simplest of interventions and allegorical constructions.
Inspired by Brazilian modernist art and architecture, Azambuja transforms urban elements such as street furniture, sidewalks, and buildings, to uncover hidden yet existing abstract patterns and geometric
wonders using everyday materials such as adhesive tape, bricks,
glass panes, or the stroke of a pen. With the slightest abstraction of
the real world, his two- and three-dimensional renderings turn our
attention toward what has always been present in these architectural
giants and urban infrastructures, and allows for a kind of rediscovery
and restored awe of the familiar or often mundane.
His work has been shown all over the world in fairs and institutions
and is part of important public and private collections.
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