| |
|
|
|
IMMEDIATE RELEASE | AUG 9, 2016
MEDIA CONTACT
Sarina Ehrgott
20 S West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
|
 |
|
Among the Catadores & Samba Dancers
UMOCA Presents Berna Reale
MAIN GALLERY: AUG 26 - DEC 17
OPENING RECEPTION: AUG 26 | 7 PM
Salt Lake City, UT
- The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) is pleased to present Brazilian video and performance artist Berna Reale's Singing In the Rain in the Codec Gallery.
Berna Reale exposes habituated realities in Brazil's contemporary society with acts that infiltrate the relentless urban routines of Belém, the largest city and capital of the northern Brazilian state of Pará.
Through pointed humor, satirical characters, and striking colors, Reale's performances in the videos Cantando na chuva Singing in the Rain (2014), Palomo (2012), and Untitled (2011) investigate current social conflicts involving issues of criminal justice, capitalism, and gender inequality.
Wearing a dog muzzle and an androgynous police uniform in Palomo, Reale sits atop a brightly painted red horse and arbitrarily patrols unusually vacant city streets, an image that simultaneously parodies the police force while soberly suggesting a dormant, violent danger. Naked and hogtied to a horizontal pole in Untitled, the artist is carried through bustling crowds who gawk and point, eliciting questions of how violence against women is often condoned or ignored altogether. In Cantando na chuva, Reale is unrecognizable in a gold suit complete with a gas mask and a glinting umbrella as she dances to the title song of the 1952 Hollywood classic Singing in the Rain. Dancing among the landfill's catadores (pickers) who routinely sift through the piles of trash in the background, Reale presents a contrast between the backbreaking actions of the workers and the frivolous nature of a material-obsessed world. Reale's work depicts a different Brazilian reality that is often substituted for tropical imagery and samba dancers, provoking audiences to consider the social conflicts in Brazil and to recognize the universal nature of such issues in their own lives.
During the performance the Belém police lend Reale a uniform and horse, Palomo, whose name is used as the title for this video. The police force further aid in the process as they paint the horse with Reale and close off the streets for the duration of filming the video.
Join us for the opening reception of Singing in the Rain on August 26, at 7 pm along with the Main Gallery exhibition Object[ed]: Shaping Sculpture in Contemporary Art, Andrew Rice's solo exhibition (re)Structured, Artist-in-residence Cara Krebs' Sehnsucht.
About the Artist
Berna Reale (b. 1965) lives and works in Belém, Pará, Brazil. She studied Art at the Federal University of Pará and has participated in group and solo exhibitions in Brazil and abroad in Europe. Her solo exhibitions include " Eccoci" in 2015 in Venice (Italy); " Vapor" in 2014 at Galeria Millan (São Paulo, Brazil); and " Vazio de nós" in 2013 at MAR - Rio Art Museum (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Reale's participation in group exhibitions include Da pedra Da terra Daqui, 34º Panorama da Arte Brasileira at MAM - Museum of Modern Art (São Paulo, Brazil) 2015; " Amazônia - Ciclos da Mondernidade" Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) 2012; and " From the Margin to the Edge," Somerset House (London, England), 2012. In 2010 Reale began a second career as a criminal expert at the State of Pará Centre of Scientific Skills, and her personal experiences in crime, violence and corruption are themes that are explored in her provocative performances and video work. The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) is the first art institution in the United States to exhibit Reale's work, and therefore the videos shown in the Codec Gallery were chosen to highlight the range of the artist's diverse performances.
Light refreshments will be provided, and beer and wine will be available for $5, and live entertainment will be present. Admission is a suggested $8 donation.
About the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art
The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art has been an award-winning aesthetic force and community leader since it was established in 1931. Located in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, UMOCA encourages exploration into what it means to exist in today's world through art that inspires imagination, stimulates thought, and transforms society. The Museum connects people around the contemporary art practice of Utah and beyond to shape an engaged and thoughtful global citizenry. UMOCA strives to be a place where all points of view, experiences, and ages feel welcome to explore the pressing issues of our time through socially relevant art exhibitions and programming.
UMOCA is a five-time recipient of funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation and is a 2015, and now 2016, recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts' Art Works grant award.
UMOCA is a 501c3 institution that is supported by public, foundation, and corporate gifts. Your contribution in any amount is greatly appreciated, and admission is a suggested $5 donation.
|
|
|
