Vermelho presents CARLOS MOTTA: WE THE ENEMY, the artist’s first solo exhibition in Brazil.
Through video, photographs, sculptures, and installations, Carlos Motta critically engages and documents the social conditions and the historical and present-day political struggles of sexual, gender and ethnic minorities in order to challenge dominant and normative discourses through visibility and self-representation.
Among the main features of Carlos Motta’s work is the narration of historically suppressed stories of sexual-and-gender different individuals and communities, in an attempt to produce counter-narratives that acknowledge non-hegemonic accounts of history. In WE THE ENEMY, Motta contrasts stories of historical and contemporary sexual and gender repression to defy conventions of story-telling, its terms and forms of representation, and the writing of history.
Vermelho presents CARLOS MOTTA: WE THE ENEMY, the artist’s first solo exhibition in Brazil.
Through video, photographs, sculptures, and installations, Carlos Motta critically engages and documents the social conditions and the historical and present-day political struggles of sexual, gender and ethnic minorities in order to challenge dominant and normative discourses through visibility and self-representation.
Among the main features of Carlos Motta’s work is the narration of historically suppressed stories of sexual-and-gender different individuals and communities, in an attempt to produce counter-narratives that acknowledge non-hegemonic accounts of history. In WE THE ENEMY, Motta contrasts stories of historical and contemporary sexual and gender repression to defy conventions of story-telling, its terms and forms of representation, and the writing of history.






































Photo Edouard Fraipont
Dimensões variáveis
Wall mural and newsprint publication Photo Edouard Fraipont [:pt]Em sua oitava instauração, o mural instalado na fachada da galeria examina os desenvolvimentos políticos do ativismo sexual e de gênero. Formas da liberdade revisita a história do triângulo rosa e de outros emblemas da diversidade sexual. Ao enfatizar a importância de processos coletivos avança-se a noção de liberdade social. O mural é acompanhado por uma linha do tempo histórica, listando momentos importantes da história LGBTQI + no Brasil e no exterior, desenvolvida em colaboração com Guilherme Altmayer.[:en]In its eighth presentation, this mural piece on the façade of the gallery, examines the political developments of sexual and gender activism. Shapes of Freedom revisits the history of the pink triangle and other sexual diversity symbols. To highlight the importance of collective organizing to achieve social freedom. The mural is accompanied by a historical timeline listing important moments of LGBTQI + history in Brazil and abroad, developed in collaboration with Guilherme Altmayer.[:]Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Carlos Motta
19'
Vídeo HD. 16:9. cor e som Photo Carlos Motta [:pt]No vídeo, Carlos Motta entrevista Paulo Pascoal, que interpreta José Francisco Pereira em Corpo fechado: a obra do diabo. Pascoal tem reconhecida carreira em Angola, seu país natal. Após assumir sua homossexualidade em uma conferência do TEDxLuanda Pascoal foi vítima de uma série de ameaças de morte, o que o levou a migrar para Portugal. Em Lisboa, onde reside atualmente, Pascoal se vê preso em uma espécie de limbo imigratório, sendo incapaz de voltar a entrar em Portugal, caso saia. Como escreveu Jack McGrath, “a biografia do ator ecoa, assim, a vida de seu personagem, mutatis mutandis, cruzando oceanos tanto de água quanto de tempo na completude espectral do método histórico de Benjamin”.[:en]This video presents an interview with Paulo Pascoal, the actor who plays José Francisco Pereira in Corpo Fechado: The Devils Work. Pascoal is a well-known actor in his home country of Angola, who after coming out as a gay during a TEDxLuanda talk, endured death threats, which lead him to migrate to Portugal. In Lisbon, where he currently resides, Pascoal finds himself trapped in a sort of immigration limbo, unable to re-enter Portugal should he ever leave. As Jack McGrath wrote, “the biography of the actor therefore resonates with the life of his character, mutatis mutandis, crisscrossing oceans of both water and time in spectral fulfillment of Benjamin’s historical method”.[:]Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Carlos Motta
152,4 x 105,5 cm each part of 2
Pigmented mineral inkjet print on Hahnemühle Photo Luster 260g paper Photo Carlos Motta [:pt]O díptico de retratos de José Francisco Pedroso (2019) - um homem africano escravizado que, juntamente com José Francisco Pereira, criou e distribuiu bolsas de mandinga - faz parte da série de obras contextuais de Corpo fechado: a obra do diabo. Carlos Motta colaborou com o ator lusoguineense Welket Bungué para criar esse retrato, onde Bungué usa uma bolsa de mandiga oferecida a ele por sua mãe.[:en]The diptych of portraits of José Francisco Pedroso (2019) – an African enslaved man who, along with José Francisco Pereira, crafted and distributed bolsas de mandinga – is part of the series of contextual works to Corpo Fechado: The Devil’s Work. Carlos Motta collaborated with Portuguese-Guinean actor Welket Bungué to create this portrait, where Bungué’s wears a bolsa de mandiga offered to him by his own mother.[:]Photo Vermelho
108 x 73 x 9 cm
Framed whip Photo VermelhoPhoto Edouard Fraipont
Photo Still do vídeo
25'
16:9 HD video, sound, color Photo Still do vídeo [:pt]O filme de 2018 conta a história de José Francisco Pereira, que foi sequestrado e vendido como escravo no século XVIII. Pereira foi levado de Uidá (atual Republica do Benim, na África ocidental) para o Pernambuco, no Brasil, onde recorreu ao sincretismo como meio de sobrevivência. Vendido a um senhor de escravos em Portugal, Pereira foi descoberto fabricando amuletos para seus companheiros escravizados, as chamadas bolsas de mandinga. Em 1731, Pereira foi julgado pela Inquisição de Lisboa por feitiçaria. Além da condenação por feitiçaria, Pereira confessou ter feito pactos e copulado com demônios masculinos, o que o levou a uma condenação por sodomia. José Francisco Pereira foi então condenado a permanecer nas galés como um remador escravizado e ao exílio, sendo proibido de entrar em Lisboa para sempre. O roteiro do filme baseia-se nos documentos de julgamento de Pereira, na Carta 31 de São Pedro Damião - O Livro de Gomorra, e em ‘Teses sobre o conceito de história’, de Walter Benjamin. Escrita pelo monge reformista italiano Pedro Damião, a ‘Carta 31’ contém o tratamento mais extenso e condenatório sobre pederastia e práticas homoeróticas. Como escreve o historiador de arte Jack McGrath em seu ensaio para Conatus, realizada por Motta em Nova Iorque, “O discurso do sodomita também desempenhou um papel central no colonialismo europeu, um tema que Motta explorou extensivamente em obras anteriores em vídeo como Trilogia Nefandus (2013) e na instalação Rumo a uma historiografia homoerótica (2014), entre outras”. Teses sobre o conceito de história é composto por 18 teses onde Walter Benjamin expõe criticamente as convenções do historicismo. Benjamin propõe uma abordagem aberta da história, propondo a construção de diferentes resultados para o futuro por meio da ação dos derrotados, opondo-se, portanto, à ideia de que o futuro é o resultado da evolução histórica do progresso econômico e científico. Segundo McGrath, “Em Corpo fechado, Pereira encarna o anjo da história de Benjamin, um querubim surpreendido por uma tempestade vinda do Paraíso, propulsionado inexoravelmente ao futuro, mas com o rosto voltado para trás, condenado a ver apenas os escombros do passado. [...] o filme de Motta reúne figuras pouco conhecidas como Pereira e Damião, resgatados de arquivos de um passado distante para uma história de migração, raça, sexualidade, lei e fé, cuja urgência contemporânea reestrutura as condições do presente.”[:en]This 2018 film tells the story of José Francisco Pereira, a man who was kidnapped and sold into enslavement in the 18th Century. Pereira was taken from Uidá (now Benin, in West Africa) to Pernambuco, Brazil, where he performed syncretic practices in order to survive. Sold to a slaveholder in Portugal, Pereira was caught making amulets –bolsas de mandinga – for his fellows enslaved men and women. In 1731 Pereira was tried by the Lisbon Inquisition for sorcery. In addition, Pereira confessed to having made pacts and copulating with a male demon, and was thus also sentenced for sodomy. José Francisco Pereira was then condemned to be an enslaved rower on a galley ship, sent into exile, and was forever banned from Lisbon. The film’s script draws from Pereira's trial documents, Saint Peter Damian’s Letter 31 – The Book of Gomorrah, and Walter Benjamin's On the Concept of History, in order to tell the story. Written by the Italian reformist monk Saint Peter Damian in the 11th century, Letter 31 includes the earliest and most extensive damning treatment on pederasty and homoerotic practices. As art historian Jack McGrath writes in his essay for Conatus, a 2019 solo exhibition by Motta in New York, “the discourse of the sodomite also played a central role in European colonialism, a theme Motta has extensively explored in earlier video works such as Nefandus Trilogy (2013) and the installation Towards a Homoerotic Historiography (2014), among others.” On the Concept of History is comprised of 18 theses in which Walter Benjamin critically exposes the conventions of historicism. Benjamin proposes an open-ended approach to history, proposing the construction of different outcomes for the future through the action of the defeated, therefore opposing the idea that the future is the result of both historical evolution and economic and scientific progress. According to McGrath, “in Corpo Fechado, Pereira incarnates Benjamin’s Angel of History, a seraph caught in a storm blowing from Paradise, propelled inexorably into the future yet facing backward, doomed to see only the wreckage of the past. […] Motta’s film brings together little-known figures like Pereira and Damian, retrieved from archives of a distant past, for a story of migration, race, sexuality, law, and belief, whose contemporary urgency reframes conditions of the present.”[:]Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Video still
25'
16:9 HD video, sound, color Photo Video stillPhoto Edouard Fraipont
Photo Carlos Motta
114,3 x 76,2 cm cada parte de 3
Pigmented mineral inkjet print on Hahnemühle Photo Luster 260g paper Photo Carlos Motta [:pt]Esta série é composta por um conjunto de fotografias de figuras mascaradas que manipulam cobras. As imagens são reminiscentes de práticas de fetiches gay associadas a “desvios sexuais”.[:en]This series of photographs present a hooded figure handling snakes. The images refer to gay fetish practices associated with “sexual deviance.”[:]Photo Carlos Motta
114,3 x 76,2 cm
Pigmented mineral inkjet print on Hahnemühle Photo Luster 260g paper Photo Carlos Motta [:pt]Esta série é composta por um conjunto de fotografias de figuras mascaradas que manipulam cobras. As imagens são reminiscentes de práticas de fetiches gay associadas a “desvios sexuais”.[:en]This series of photographs present a hooded figure handling snakes. The images refer to gay fetish practices associated with “sexual deviance.”[:]Photo Carlos Motta
114,3 x 76,2 cm
Pigmented mineral inkjet print on Hahnemühle Photo Luster 260g paper Photo Carlos Motta [:pt]Esta série é composta por um conjunto de fotografias de figuras mascaradas que manipulam cobras. As imagens são reminiscentes de práticas de fetiches gay associadas a “desvios sexuais”.[:en]This series of photographs present a hooded figure handling snakes. The images refer to gay fetish practices associated with “sexual deviance.”[:]Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Vermelho
110,5 x 88 x 51 cm
Bronze, plexiglass, water and cement Photo Vermelho [:pt]Motta criou a efígie de bronze à imagem de uma escultura de madeira do século XVIII, da coleção do Museu Afro Brasil de São Paulo, um objeto eclesiástico feito por artesãos que trabalhavam em submissão colonial. Como artefato de exploração, a obra acusa a arte e a religião que serviam ao sistema colonial. Como Benjamin colocou em O anjo da história, ‘não há documento da civilização que não seja ao mesmo tempo um documento da barbárie’”.[:en]Motta created the bronze effigy in the image of an 18th century wooden sculpture in São Paulo, an ecclesiastical object crafted by artisans working in colonial subjection. As an artifact of exploitation, the piece indicts the art and religion that assisted the colonial system. As Benjamin wrote in On the Concept of History, ‘There is no document of civilization that is not at the same time a document of barbarism’.”[:]Photo Carlos Motta
Photo Carlos Motta
114,3 x 76,2 cm
Pigmented mineral inkjet print on Hahnemühle Photo Luster 260g paper Photo Carlos Motta [:pt]Esta série é composta por um conjunto de fotografias de figuras mascaradas que manipulam cobras. As imagens são reminiscentes de práticas de fetiches gay associadas a “desvios sexuais”.[:en]This series of photographs present a hooded figure handling snakes. The images refer to gay fetish practices associated with “sexual deviance.”[:]Photo Edouard Fraipont
Bronze
Photo Vermelho
The Corpo Fechado series is comprised of a series of vintage whips cast in bronze and sculpted in such way that their motions appear as a frozen instant. These pieces are also part of the series of sculptural and photographic objects that relate to Corpo Fechado: The Devil’s Work. Like in the film, there is a reversal on the handling of the whip as these tools for punishment are inverted in these works, drawing near to BDSM practices where pleasure and pain converge, and where relations of power and submission are consensual.
65 x 32 x 4 cm + 104 x 40 x 4 cm + 196 x 35 x 3 cm
Bronze
Photo VermelhoThe Corpo Fechado series is comprised of a series of vintage whips cast in bronze and sculpted in such way that their motions appear as a frozen instant. These pieces are also part of the series of sculptural and photographic objects that relate to Corpo Fechado: The Devil’s Work. Like in the film, there is a reversal on the handling of the whip as these tools for punishment are inverted in these works, drawing near to BDSM practices where pleasure and pain converge, and where relations of power and submission are consensual.
Bronze
Photo Vermelho
The Corpo Fechado series is comprised of a series of vintage whips cast in bronze and sculpted in such way that their motions appear as a frozen instant. These pieces are also part of the series of sculptural and photographic objects that relate to Corpo Fechado: The Devil’s Work. Like in the film, there is a reversal on the handling of the whip as these tools for punishment are inverted in these works, drawing near to BDSM practices where pleasure and pain converge, and where relations of power and submission are consensual.
92 x 33 x 4 cm
Bronze
Photo VermelhoThe Corpo Fechado series is comprised of a series of vintage whips cast in bronze and sculpted in such way that their motions appear as a frozen instant. These pieces are also part of the series of sculptural and photographic objects that relate to Corpo Fechado: The Devil’s Work. Like in the film, there is a reversal on the handling of the whip as these tools for punishment are inverted in these works, drawing near to BDSM practices where pleasure and pain converge, and where relations of power and submission are consensual.
Photo Vermelho
146 x 8 x 4 cm
Bronze Photo Vermelho [:pt]A série Corpo fechado é composta por uma série de chicotes antigos fundidos em bronze e esculpidos de forma que seus movimentos pareçam um instante congelado. Essas peças também fazem parte da série de objetos esculturais e fotográficos que conversam com o filme Corpo fechado: a obra do diabo. Como no filme, há uma inversão no manuseio do chicote, que são ressignificados, aproximando-se das práticas BDSM, onde prazer e dor se confundem e as relações de poder e submissão são consensuais.[:en]The Corpo Fechado series is comprised of a series of vintage whips cast in bronze and sculpted in such way that their motions appear as a frozen instant. These pieces are also part of the series of sculptural and photographic objects that relate to Corpo Fechado: The Devil’s Work. Like in the film, there is a reversal on the handling of the whip as these tools for punishment are inverted in these works, drawing near to BDSM practices where pleasure and pain converge, and where relations of power and submission are consensual.[:]Photo Vermelho
180 x 30 x 4,5 cm
Bronze Photo Vermelho [:pt]A série Corpo fechado é composta por uma série de chicotes antigos fundidos em bronze e esculpidos de forma que seus movimentos pareçam um instante congelado. Essas peças também fazem parte da série de objetos esculturais e fotográficos que conversam com o filme Corpo fechado: a obra do diabo. Como no filme, há uma inversão no manuseio do chicote, que são ressignificados, aproximando-se das práticas BDSM, onde prazer e dor se confundem e as relações de poder e submissão são consensuais.[:en]The Corpo Fechado series is comprised of a series of vintage whips cast in bronze and sculpted in such way that their motions appear as a frozen instant. These pieces are also part of the series of sculptural and photographic objects that relate to Corpo Fechado: The Devil’s Work. Like in the film, there is a reversal on the handling of the whip as these tools for punishment are inverted in these works, drawing near to BDSM practices where pleasure and pain converge, and where relations of power and submission are consensual.[:]Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Carlos Motta
29’20’’
Video - color, sound Photo Carlos Motta [:pt]Este vídeo apresenta uma performance de resistência de 30 minutos feita por Carlos Motta para a câmera. Legado mostra o artista olhando diretamente para a câmera enquanto usa uma mordaça dentária e tenta ler uma linha do tempo sobre o HIV / AIDS, de 1908 a 2019, ditada a ele pelo radialista norte-americano Ari Shapiro. Incapaz de falar com clareza, lutando para se lembrar das falas e contra a dor, o artista se esgota gradual e visivelmente. direção e performance: Carlos Motta pesquisa: Ted Kerr, Carlos Motta narração: Ari Shapiro câmera: Tyler Haft desenho: Luca Cruz Salvati, Carlos Motta[:en]This video piece presents a 30-minute endurance performance made by Carlos Motta for the camera. Legacy shows the artist looking straight at the camera as he wears a dental gag and tries to read out a timeline of HIV/AIDS, from 1908 to 2019, dictated to him by American radio broadcaster Ari Shapiro. Unable to speak clearly, struggling to remember the lines and in pain, the artist gradually and visibly exhausts himself. directed and performed by: Carlos Motta research: Ted Kerr, Carlos Motta voice over: Ari Shapiro camera: Tyler Haft drawing: Luca Cruz Salvati, Carlos Motta[:]Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Video still
3'49''
HD video, 16:9, color, sound Photo Video still [:pt]SPIT! (Sodomite, Inverts, Perverts Together!) é um coletivo formado em 2017 por Carlos Motta, pelo escritor John Arthur Peetz e pelo artista Carlos Maria Romero. SPIT! escreveu uma série de manifestos cuir inicialmente performados no Frieze projects, London. No vídeo de 2019, a artista grega Despina Zacharopoulos performa WE THE ENEMY, um compêndio de gírias depreciativas e insultos a pessoas cuir. Ditos por Zacharopoulos com orgulho desafiador, esses termos são reapropriados, tornando-se palavras de ordem ou uma espécie de chamamento aos “sem-poder”.[:en]SPIT! (Sodomite, Inverts, Perverts Together!) is a collective formed in 2017 by Carlos Motta, writer John Arthur Peetz, and artist Carlos Maria Romero. SPIT! wrote a series of queer manifestos that were initially performed at Frieze projects, London. In the 2019 video, Greek artist Despina Zacharopoulos performs WE THE ENEMY, a summary of derogatory slangs and insults to queer people. Spoken by Zacharopoulos with defiant pride, these terms are re-appropriated becoming watchwords or a kind of summoning of the powerless.[:]Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Edouard Fraipont
155 x 13 x 13 cm each piece of 5
Bronze, concrete, iron and wooden inner structure Photo Edouard Fraipont [:pt]WE THE ENEMY (2019) é uma série composta por 41 esculturas em bronze baseadas em representações do diabo que foram extraídas da história da arte: de pinturas históricas que retratam Satanás no inferno, desenhos, ilustrações e esculturas que se relacionam com a imaginário do mal encarnado. As figuras desafiam os padrões morais normativos de beleza, respeitabilidade e comportamento. Nesse exército de demônios, há personagens que sugerem desvios e perversões sexuais - como tipificado pela imaginação católica tradicional.[:en]WE THE ENEMY (2019) is a series comprised of 41 bronze sculptures based on representations of the devil drawn from art history: historical paintings that portray Satan in hell, drawings, illustrations, and sculptures that represent evil embodied. Each figure defies normative moral standards of beauty, respectability, and behavior. Among this army of demons, there are characters who suggest sexual perversion – as typified by traditional catholic imagery.[:]Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Edouard Fraipont
155 x 13 x 13 cm each piece of 5
Bronze, concrete, iron and wooden inner structure Photo Edouard Fraipont [:pt]WE THE ENEMY (2019) é uma série composta por 41 esculturas em bronze baseadas em representações do diabo que foram extraídas da história da arte: de pinturas históricas que retratam Satanás no inferno, desenhos, ilustrações e esculturas que se relacionam com a imaginário do mal encarnado. As figuras desafiam os padrões morais normativos de beleza, respeitabilidade e comportamento. Nesse exército de demônios, há personagens que sugerem desvios e perversões sexuais - como tipificado pela imaginação católica tradicional.[:en]WE THE ENEMY (2019) is a series comprised of 41 bronze sculptures based on representations of the devil drawn from art history: historical paintings that portray Satan in hell, drawings, illustrations, and sculptures that represent evil embodied. Each figure defies normative moral standards of beauty, respectability, and behavior. Among this army of demons, there are characters who suggest sexual perversion – as typified by traditional catholic imagery.[:]Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Edouard Fraipont
Photo Edouard Fraipont
76,2 x 114,3 cm
Pigmented mineral inkjet print on Hahnemühle Photo Luster 260g paper Photo Edouard Fraipont [:pt]Em Autorretrato Sem título n° 3, Motta aparece lamentoso e firme simultaneamente, com o pulso cerrado, resiliente, e a cabeça pensa sobre uma superfície espelhada. Como adverte Jack McGrath: “Às vezes, olhar no espelho é enxergar os malfeitores da história novamente projetando-se de soslaio para fora, e o progresso verdadeiro requer coragem para criticar até a si mesmo”.[:en]In Untitled Self-Portrait # 3,is a photograph where Motta depicts himself simultaneously mournful and resolute, showing a clenched resilient fist, and resting his wistful head on a mirrored surface. As Jack McGrath warns: “Sometimes to gaze into a mirror is to see the malefactors of history leering back out, and real progress requires the courage to criticize even oneself.”[:]Photo Edouard Fraipont