Galeria Contempo, in São Paulo, opens “cons.truc.tion | an open definition”
The first collective exhibition of the year begins on February 15th, featuring a selection of works by both emerging and established artists.
The 2025 exhibition calendar is off to a strong start at Galeria Contempo. Following a solo show by artist Ana Durães, the gallery will host its first collective exhibition of the year at its Gabriel Monteiro location on February 15th, from 10 am to 4 pm. “cons.truc.tion | an open definition” will bring together 13 artists represented by partners Márcia and Monica Felmanas: Aldir Mendes de Souza, Beto Fame, Greta Coutinho, João di Souza, Luiz Dolino, Márcio Swk, Marina Ryfer, Natan Dias, Pavel, Renato Dib, Rubens Ianelli, Sérgio Guerini, and Thiago Nevs. Through works in diverse media, including painting, sculpture, and installation, *cons.truc.tion* points to the recent development of this group of artists. All of them, whether young or established, demonstrate that continuing to produce is an exercise in reinvesting in the construction of meaning, even if that meaning is personal and affective. The exhibition will be on view until March 8th.
The collective show traces a panorama of the recent production of the gallery's artists. Triggered by a work by Aldir Mendes de Souza, “cons.truc.tion” is an invitation to rethink the notion of construction in the contemporary context. Aldir’s work, titled “A Cidade VI” (1979), is one of his incursions into the (still unresolved) debate between city and countryside. Between the horizontals of plantations and the daunting verticals of metropolises, Aldir established a personal lexicon to address the visual results of progress. Without being prescriptive, his painting helps us better position the problem that the exhibition intends to conjecture. Another featured name, Natan Dias—nominated for the Pipa Prize in 2024—is an artist who, alongside iron and its significance in Afro-Brazilian cultures, rethinks construction. In contrast, Dolino, an artist with a long career, daily recombines a sparse lexicon that nonetheless seems endless.
