Zootécnico [Zootechnics] is João Loureiro’s first solo show at Vermelho. It approaches the relations of architecture’s form and function both in private and public spaces. Loureiro’s installation is composed by a group of five animals made of sliced grey foam: a mouse, a wolf, a donkey, a rhino and an elephant. The 1:1 scale animals were distributed within the gallery according to their visual proportion to the space, preserving the variety suggested by the architecture as internal procedure.
Such procedures orient Loureiro’s most recent researches. They investigate Brazilian modern architecture legacy and the constructive logic of buildings and urban areas. In Zootécnico [Zootechnics] the material suggests an almost tactile approach. On the other hand, the memory it brings is not subjective. The issue is not to elaborate and implement a viable and functional project for life and work, rather it is a speculation on modern values and the failure of their implement.
Loureiro’s choice of form and the repeating of a unique theme are a comment on recurrent exhibition models in art spaces. The grey color refers to “naturalist” representation of animals and also to the white cube’s intended neutrality. When visiting the exhibition, the spectator will see all animals but will never actually see the whole group. The mouse, the wolf, the donkey, the rhino and the elephant, gradually placed in line on the viewer’s mind, eventually constitute a grey scale.
Zootécnico [Zootechnics] is João Loureiro’s first solo show at Vermelho. It approaches the relations of architecture’s form and function both in private and public spaces. Loureiro’s installation is composed by a group of five animals made of sliced grey foam: a mouse, a wolf, a donkey, a rhino and an elephant. The 1:1 scale animals were distributed within the gallery according to their visual proportion to the space, preserving the variety suggested by the architecture as internal procedure.
Such procedures orient Loureiro’s most recent researches. They investigate Brazilian modern architecture legacy and the constructive logic of buildings and urban areas. In Zootécnico [Zootechnics] the material suggests an almost tactile approach. On the other hand, the memory it brings is not subjective. The issue is not to elaborate and implement a viable and functional project for life and work, rather it is a speculation on modern values and the failure of their implement.
Loureiro’s choice of form and the repeating of a unique theme are a comment on recurrent exhibition models in art spaces. The grey color refers to “naturalist” representation of animals and also to the white cube’s intended neutrality. When visiting the exhibition, the spectator will see all animals but will never actually see the whole group. The mouse, the wolf, the donkey, the rhino and the elephant, gradually placed in line on the viewer’s mind, eventually constitute a grey scale.