
“Sinfonia Tropical para Loos VI ,” 2014 (“Tropical Symphony for Loos VI”), pigmented mineral ink print on cotton paper. Collection of the artist/Photo: Pedro Perez Machado
Three decades after her first solo show at Pinacoteca of the State of São Paulo, Ana Maria Tavares returns to the same institution to present the exhibition “In the Same Place: An Anthology of Ana Maria Tavares.” The exhibition articulates several works from the artist’s trajectory, taking as a departure point one of her works which is held in the Pinacoteca’s collection (“Diamond Tip,” 1990).

“Bico de Diamante,” 1990 (“Diamond Tip”), polyurethane on aluminum composite material, carbon steel and masonry columns. Collection of Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo/Photo: Rômulo Fialdini
Although it is an anthology, the exhibition is not organized chronologically. The occupation of the seven rooms on the first floor of the building, the central octagon space, as well as the lobbies and corridors on the same floor can be understood within a larger field of inquiry linked to site-specific conventions and spatial interventions. In fact, Tavares articulates a rich vocabulary of forms, materials and procedures to create a particular language, which makes use of references of industrial and architectonic standards, defining itself as “space” in its essence—which sometimes gives us an almost extra-temporal feeling.

“Atlântica Moderna” (parte I) [detalhe], 2016

“Dominó XXI” (da série Forgotten Mantras), 2016. Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Galeria Silva Cintra/Photo: Jaime Acioli
Moving away from a traditional reading of site-specific works, Tavares doesn’t seem to be attached to make a “critique” of the specific institution where she is exhibiting, or the specific sociocultural context and situation where she is acting. Instead, it seems that the aim is pointed towards to the collective understanding of what is (or may be) a public space. She explores the levels of interpretation and agreement regarding what is often contradictory, hidden, or waiting to be explored. When approaching Tavares’ objects and installations, you can feel like you’re entering a public space like a stage, an empty area waiting to be activated by the spectators, which means by us as participants and social actors, in a story whose chapters are not fully written yet. In this regard it is not a surprise that, lately, collaboration and participation started to figure among the concepts we may find in the artist’s productions.

Exit III with Niemeyer Wall (Luz Station), 2016
Tavares’ installations also establish the possibilities to draw futuristic scenarios, non-places designed as urban sites (in their material as also visual vocabulary). In them we may feel a mix of influences, which may range from Oscar Niemeyer even to Giovanni Piranesi. The production of fictitious architectural landscapes, impossible images and dislocated objects promotes, in the end, a strong meditation on how institutional systems and their impact on other channels of information dominates more and more the public space, and so, also our daily lives.
Through April 10, 2017
Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo

Ana Maria Tavares/Photo: Bruno Schultze