Upon arriving at the small-but-well-proportioned apartment, with large windows assuring the living room’s brightness despite the rainy day outside, the artworks covering most of the wall space immediately catches my eye. One of them, a black square with white inscriptions—the definition of the word “abstract”—stands out among the other pieces. “By whom is this work that looks so much like a Joseph Kosuth?” I ask. “Joseph Kosuth,” both voices reply in unison. More accurately, it is like hearing the same voice twice, with different tones. Their faces and bodies are also the same, and yet are not; the differences remain at once within sight and hidden. It is a strange feeling being around identical twins; we can perceive that something discerns one from the other without comprehending the distinction in a clear way. It’s more like an aura, which only the most intimate know how to read. For the rest of us, it remains a sort of mystery, and the best we can do is look for clues—like different eyeglasses or haircuts.
Luiz and Pedro Vieira, the founders of Ikrek—a new publishing house devoted exclusively to artist books—come from different academic backgrounds. Luiz is a lawyer, with a master’s degree in history and philosophy of law. His undergrad and his master’s thesis were, however, related to major names in Brazilian literature: first, a study about law, society and politics within the 1955 play “O Auto da Compadecida,” by Ariano Suassuna; later, he did research on the abolitionist chronicles written by Machado de Assis under different pseudonyms during the nineteenth century. Pedro is an architect, and obtained his bachelor’s and his master’s degrees from the University of São Paulo—a formative school for so many greats of the Brazilian contemporary art scene.
Sandra Cinto, “Partitura”
Ikrek’s official launch came in 2014, with two books: “Partitura” [Score], by Sandra Cinto, a twenty-eight-page score, printed using lithography, with unique drawings by the artist in each of the edition of fifteen’s pieces; and “Não,” by Fabio Morais, the first volume of the series “Ponto e Vírgula” [Semicolon]. Yet the twins had already been working on the publishing house since 2012. “It was a two-year gestation, when we went through all the bureaucracy for opening a company, plus established a solid research and editorial line,” they explain. The choice of the name was inspired by Guimarães Rosa, another one of Brazil’s greatest authors, for whom Hungarian was the most beautiful language of all. “Ikrek” is the Hungarian word for “twins.”
Jac Leirner, “Atletas,” from the “Ponto Virgula” series
Their first releases were a hit. After a negotiation that went on for almost one year, an edition of “Partitura” was acquired by New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2015, thus adding Sandra Cinto’s name to the museum’s collection. Also, MoMA’s library holds the first four volumes of the “Ponto e Vírgula” series (including the works of Rafael RG, Lenora de Barros and Jac Leirner), an ongoing project whose next three editions should come out this year. “The title came from the use of the semicolon in enumerations. Our idea is to create a collection of object-books with the same format and general specifications that can grow to infinity,” they explain. The format is the most traditional one, widely used by literary publications: a 128-page book that, when closed, measures 23 by 15.5 centimeters. Each guest artist is free to create within such boundaries. The results have been successful so far, and, with the support of a sponsor, the series is available for affordable prices, helping widen the interest in collecting artist books.
Edith Derdyk, “Tabula”
In 2015, they extended the house’s portfolio with three new books: Edith Derdyk’s “Tábula” [Slate], and two works by foreign artists. The first one, “Outros Pensam” [Other People Think], by Chilean Alfredo Jaar, is a bilingual translation (Portuguese-Spanish) of the project that the artist developed in 2012 in homage to John Cage. “We wanted to work with foreign artists, so we decided to start with Latin Americans. Alfredo Jaar’s book made sense as a start point, as it speaks about the region,” the twins explain. The second international endeavor was bolder: a new piece specially conceived for Ikrek by Uruguayan Luis Camnitzer, “Annotations.”
Luis Camnitzer, “Annotations”
For 2016, Ikrek is planning at least four new releases, including the new titles of the “Ponto e Vírgula” series. That is not a minor accomplishment in a country where artists struggle to raise funding, and publishing businesses face challenges even surviving (Cosac Naify, the most renowned art publisher in Brazil, announced it was shutting down last November). The small number of specialized bookstores, and the fact that regular ones don’t accept or know how to deal with artist books, are also challenges for the circulation of this kind of product in Brazil, a country that nevertheless has a prominent history with this artistically. For now they have their hands full, but are already contemplating working with reissues of historical projects and participating in international art fairs as future possibilities of expansion. Clearly, we can anticipate uncountable semicolons before the end of this period.
Caroline Carrion (1986) is a São Paulo-based curator and art critic. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of Sao Paulo, where she is currently pursuing a second degree in philosophy, after having studied management et communications intercuturelles at Université Paris IV (Sorbonne). Caroline has been working in the art field since 2008 in different segments of the market, such as cultural centers, museums and art galleries. She has developed and coordinated the production of exhibitions, integrated publishing projects on contemporary art and has extensive experience with cultural journalism and institutional communication. In 2015, she curated “Eccoci!,” an urban-intervention project by artist Berna Reale held in public areas of scarce touristic access in Venice, during the opening and closing weeks of the 56th Venice Biennale; and was one of the emergent guest curators of the Prêmio CNI SESI SENAI Marcantonio Vilaça para as Artes Plásticas. She is the author of texts for exhibitions and artists books, presented in Brazil and abroad; and is a member of the PIPA prize 2016 Nominating Committee. She regularly writes for Newcity Brazil, and collaborates with the contemporary art platform My Art Guides. Contact: [email protected]
A Fantastic Range of Tonalities: Photographer Luiz Carlos Felizardo Discusses His Masterful Technique With a surname that translates into “lucky devil,” Felizardo is a photographer’s photographer, noted for his mastery of the technique and expertise in the now lost art of the darkroom print. He currently exhibits “MADE IN USA, the Photography of Luiz Carlos Felizardo (1984-1985),” a selection of twenty-three black-and-white photos taken in Arizona when he was mentored by the late…
Art Maven: Gisela Gueiros Talks Curating, Rembrandt and the Difference Between São Paulo and New York In 2007 when art historian, art advisor and educator Gisela Gueiros moved to New York, she came with a degree in arts and social communications, had studied dance in Amsterdam and worked as a fashion writer in São Paulo, her home town. Soon after, her flawless English and passion for the arts led her to internships at David Zwirner and…
Sugar High: Communing with Art and Nature in the Tropical Paradise of Usina de Arte I am sitting on the veranda of a grand tropical mansion. Ricardo Pessoa de Queiroz is telling me the story of this grand undertaking, a sculpture park and a botanical garden on the grounds of the old sugar mill that is the passion he shares with his wife Bruna.
Don't Look Away: A Review of Social Fabric: Art and Activism in Contemporary Brazil at the University of Texas At the Visual Arts Center of the University of Texas, Austin, ten Brazilian artists provide sanctuary and deliver critique in "Social Fabric," a feat of an exhibition three years in the making. The exhibition is also a significant referendum on the anemic state of Brazilian democracy by reckoning with a wide array of the national myths still brewing from Brazil’s…
