BREGENZ.- Kunsthaus Bregenz is now showing an exhibition of works by Brazilian artist Solange Pessoa. Solange Pessoa works with various mediums such as sculptures, installations, painting, drawing, ceramics, and videos. Born and raised in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, she is fascinated by the colonial baroque architecture of the region, especially by the soapstone, known for its softness and diversity of tonalities. Pessoa finds primal creativity in the cycle of life, often using organic materials for her works, such as earth, moss, wax, leather, blood, or feathers.

The first floor of the exhibition at Kunsthaus Bregenz features Untitled (Version Minas-Texas), an installation comprising burlap sacks that have been sewn together and suspended from the ceiling like towering walls. The sacks are filled with soil, plants, bone fragments, dried blossoms, sheets of paper, and photographs, among other items. Upper floors present works of sculpture: bronze works hang on the walls or stand freely in the space; the lumpy, metallic pieces reminiscent of amorphous found objects, meteorites, or thickened formations of lava. Some are decorated with feathers, skins, hair, wool, or grass.

Hanging in the center of one room is an expansive sculpture titled Miracéus. The sculpture is made from the feathers of various birds, collected over the years, and joined together into a dense carpet. The central part of the installation is a kind of “penetrable” (tunnel) for looking at what is above, in the dark. On the walls are oil paintings showing organic forms in simple abstractions, recalling imprints, prehistorical symbols, or magic signs.

The exhibition opened with a reception on Friday, November 10, and on Saturday, November 11 the museum presented an artist’s talk with Solange Pessoa and Thomas D. Trummer, director of Kunsthaus Bregenz. The talk in Portuguese was translated to German.

Solange Pessoa (b. 1961, Ferros, Brazil) lives in Belo Horizonte. Solo exhibitions of her work have been shown at the Museu Mineiro in Belo Horizonte, at the Centro Cultural São Paulo, at the Ballroom Marfa, Texas, and at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions in Brazil and abroad, including at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the Fondation Cartier in Lille. In 2022 Pessoa was represented at the Biennale di Venezia.

Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria
Solange Pessoa
November 11th, 2023 – February 4th, 2024