Beschreibung:

BRAZILIAN Tunga Lucido Nigredo XIV 1999 glass, magnets, and iron fillings with Plexiglas case and steel stand overall: 66 3/8 x 27 3/4 x 20 in. (168.6 x 70.5 x 50.8 cm)
Provenance Christopher Grimes Gallery, Los Angeles Private collection, Buenos Aires Catalogue Essay From the onset of his career in the 1970s, Tunga has become widely known for his sculptures, installations and performance pieces. His use of mixed media and unlikely materials has captivated viewers for decades, and his innovative approach to form and spatial associations between objects has earned him a prominent place among Latin America’s most celebrated contemporary artists. He has never been afraid to push the aesthetic and conceptual boundaries of his time, turning his works into active playgrounds for philosophy, physics, and cultural engagement. Tunga’s body of work constantly reflects a profound awareness of opposing forces and improbable formal relationships. For example, his 1989 series Capillary Siamese Twins involves photographs of twins who are physically joined only by their hair. These works present a constant oscillation between collective bodies and individual identities. As such, Tunga has continuously revisited the concept of the braid, investigating its duality as a single entity composed of three distinct elements. The disentanglement of the braid can become an unraveling performance of discovery, as formal cohesion gives way to chaos and plurality. Tunga’s more recent interest in magnetism largely stems from these concerns. Due to their positive and negative charges, magnets can instantly alter their identities from the individual to the collective. In doing so, they charge and revolutionize their surrounding space. They radiate energy unto unsuspecting objects, challenging their independence and material nature. The present lot, Lucido Nigredo XIV, is emblematic of Tunga’s foray into the laws of physics and their aesthetic and philosophical connotations. It reflects the artist’s infinite curiosity as he applies his conceptual interests to diverse materials and situations. The various elements that comprise Lucido Nigredo XIV are capable of existing both individually and collectively within their own narrative. He juxtaposes delicate materials, such as glass, with the more rugged and uncontrollable nature of magnets and iron fillings. The work becomes an elegant display of force and energy, as the opposing materials negotiate their spatial composition in precarious and unpredictable ways. Tunga is adept at flirting with the concepts of boundless energy and confinement. The magnets are physically encased in glass, and yet it is they who hold the power. Hinting at rebellion, they subtly begin to escape from captivity. The result is the embodiment of the invisible push and pull between the objects, a play on arrested motion and underlying vigor. Through the present lot, Tunga challenges the divisions between art, science, and physical might. Read More Artist Bio Tunga Brazilian • 1952 - 2016 Tunga was born in Palmares, Brazil and trained as an architect. He chose to pursue a visual arts career, through which he is best known for his subversive sculpture, installations and performances. At only 22, Tunga held his first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, drawing the attention of the art world with the title Museu da Masturbação Infantil (Museum of Childhood Masturbation). Like this first exhibition, Tunga's works are psychologically charged and influenced by Surrealism and Constructivism. His art is highly conceptual and conveys spatial concerns, often dealing with bodily organs and functions, desires and rituals that he depicted in enigmatic environments, employing non-traditional mediums such as teeth, hair, nets and skulls. View More Works