In Black Bloc, Dora Longo Bahia shows a series of works made on the basis of her observation of the manifestations that have been taking place in Brazil since June 2013.
In the installation that lends its title to the show, 126 fibercement flat sheets present silhouettes of vinegar bottles silkscreened in black. They are like portraits of protesters, wearing black hoods and holding bottles of vinegar, used to neutralize the effects of the tear gas used by the police. Amidst the different vinegar bottles, the silhouette of a single Molotov cocktail stands out, emphasizing the imminent violence. Longo Bahia discusses the spreading power of the union of a mass of faceless people.
In another piece, also entitled Black Bloc, a set of 11 vinegar bottles was sculpted from solid pieces of black nylon. Although they are made in 1:1 scale, their materiality confers them monumentality, and the iconic character of simple vinegar bottles is once again evident as they are transformed into symbols of resistance at this current moment of Brazilian history.
Simultaneously, in the videos Lucifer and Lilith, Dora traces a parallel between the Black Blocs and the Muslim women who wear a burqa. The artist talks about two subjects without a place in contemporaneity: the young protesters without identity and the religious women who do not show their body. In Lucifer, the protesters are shown as children who, after the fall of an angel in an idyllic and mysterious forest of vibrant colors, try to survive in a post-apocalyptic landscape. One of the children is the “bearer of light,” the original meaning of the word Lucifer, as he is holding a Molotov cocktail – a cause or a consequence of the destruction?
In Lilith, the artist presents a lunar landscape peppered with volcanoes and geysers, interspersed by shots of a couple who seem to be conversing in a desertic, inhospitable and hostile landscape. The woman, dressed in a burqa, is listening to a man whose face is covered by a keffiyeh while he gestures senselessly. Lilith was Adam’s first companion, made of the same raw material as he was, and thus his equal. She is a “creature of the night,” the original meaning of the word lilith, and was thrown out of paradise for having disputed her importance with Adam.
Together with the Black Bloc series, the videos Lucifer and Lilith present an iconoclastic view on representations rooted in the media and religion.
In Black Bloc, Dora Longo Bahia shows a series of works made on the basis of her observation of the manifestations that have been taking place in Brazil since June 2013.
In the installation that lends its title to the show, 126 fibercement flat sheets present silhouettes of vinegar bottles silkscreened in black. They are like portraits of protesters, wearing black hoods and holding bottles of vinegar, used to neutralize the effects of the tear gas used by the police. Amidst the different vinegar bottles, the silhouette of a single Molotov cocktail stands out, emphasizing the imminent violence. Longo Bahia discusses the spreading power of the union of a mass of faceless people.
In another piece, also entitled Black Bloc, a set of 11 vinegar bottles was sculpted from solid pieces of black nylon. Although they are made in 1:1 scale, their materiality confers them monumentality, and the iconic character of simple vinegar bottles is once again evident as they are transformed into symbols of resistance at this current moment of Brazilian history.
Simultaneously, in the videos Lucifer and Lilith, Dora traces a parallel between the Black Blocs and the Muslim women who wear a burqa. The artist talks about two subjects without a place in contemporaneity: the young protesters without identity and the religious women who do not show their body. In Lucifer, the protesters are shown as children who, after the fall of an angel in an idyllic and mysterious forest of vibrant colors, try to survive in a post-apocalyptic landscape. One of the children is the “bearer of light,” the original meaning of the word Lucifer, as he is holding a Molotov cocktail – a cause or a consequence of the destruction?
In Lilith, the artist presents a lunar landscape peppered with volcanoes and geysers, interspersed by shots of a couple who seem to be conversing in a desertic, inhospitable and hostile landscape. The woman, dressed in a burqa, is listening to a man whose face is covered by a keffiyeh while he gestures senselessly. Lilith was Adam’s first companion, made of the same raw material as he was, and thus his equal. She is a “creature of the night,” the original meaning of the word lilith, and was thrown out of paradise for having disputed her importance with Adam.
Together with the Black Bloc series, the videos Lucifer and Lilith present an iconoclastic view on representations rooted in the media and religion.
