Mercedes Viegas Arte Contemporânea will open the exhibition "Adalberto Mecarelli – Luz +" on December 12, 2019, at 7:00 PM for guests, and the following day for the general public. The exhibition features works by the artist, who was born in Terni, Italy, in 1946, and has been based in Paris for 50 years. This is the first exhibition in Brazil by the sculptor, whose abstract constructive approach is noted for research into light and shadow and solar light recordings. Their work is featured in various public spaces across European countries, including France, Italy, and Germany. "The exhibition primarily presents light sculptures that engage with the gallery space—geometric forms sculpted by shadow," notes curator Elisa Byington, who selected works by the artist spanning various techniques and materials.
In addition to the light sculptures—which will occupy a significant portion of the gallery—the exhibition includes "Jai Prakash, cr2075" (2000), a set of five silver nitrate works on cotton paper created in Jaipur, India. Mecarelli has frequented the city since an artist residency between 1992 and 1993, during which they researched the country's notable solar observatories. Also featured is the "Hamlet" series (1985), a set of nine aquatint prints on cotton paper based on the scenography created for the 1985 production of Hamlet at the Théâtre des Quartiers d'Ivry in Paris. Directed by Catherine Dasté, the production toured various French and European theaters. The exhibition also includes 2010 works featuring silver nitrate on rice paper, documenting solar recordings made at Haeinsa Temple in South Korea, as well as the previously unreleased "Demoiselles de Malakoff" (2019), which explore polyhedral imagery printed in silver nitrate on raw canvas. Malakoff is the Parisian neighborhood where the artist's studio is located. The striking images that emerge from the various "wrappings" of a single polyhedron unintentionally and randomly evoke Cubist-Futurist, Suprematist, and early-century geometric abstraction imagery.
