Caio Reisewitz: Você Não Está Sozinho
From May 23 through July 30, Galeria Brito Cimino will present “Você Não Está Sozinho” [You are not alone], the first solo exhibition of photographs by Caio Reisewitz in Brazil. Reisewitz was the only Brazilian photographer to show his work in the 26th São Paulo International Biennial, held in 2004. In 2005, the artist takes part in the 51st Venice Biennale, among other exhibitions.
The unedited photographs on display at Galeria Brito Cimino have been selected with the objective to offer a precise reading of the artist’s work. The set includes five photographs the themes of which represent the main subjects of Reisewitz’s research: Guarapiranga III, 2003 [120 x 180 cm]; Cubatão II, 2003 [220 x 190 cm]; Rufo, 2003 [190 x 240 cm]; Sapopemba I, 2003 [190 x 285 cm]; and Câmara Municipal de São Paulo (Palácio Anchieta), 2003 [190 x 240 cm]. In the course of his career, the photographer developed the unique poetics of an urban nomad, whose keen gaze imparts a certain nostalgic air to his photographs. While taking in the surrounding landscape, the artist transforms time into image; while capturing the present, he rescues past memories.
Among other intentions, Reisewitz’s work is aimed at handling photograph as form. His photos are always produced in grandiose formats that bring images, their bulk, texture, and rich details near the spectator. This careful mode of image treatment reveals the influence of the German schools that he attended. Reisewitz advocates the aesthetics of romanticism in his clean, precise photography that stands out for its technical and thematic refinement.
In natural or man-made scenes, human action attends different situations of the artist's output -- whether it be the actual result (construction), or idealized landscapes (the coastal mountain system that extends across the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro). Reisewitz reveals that his investigation aims at “showing just where action interferes in our environment." The artist’s work is meant to record these situations and to undo the landscape fabric, the warp and weft of the space in which we are inscribed. Você não está sozinho introduces a reflection of space as landscape and of landscape as space -- habitat, dwelling, shelter, city, contour, situational environment.
The exhibition catalogue will feature a presentation by Stella Teixeira de Barros illustrated with works on display as well as with other works by the artist that will be shown in the exhibition “Alegoria Barroca na Arte Contemporânea” [Baroque Allegory in Contemporary Art], at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, of Rio de Janeiro (May 26 – July 3, 2005) and in the Brazilian pavilion at the Venice Biennale (June 12 – November 6, 2005).
CAREER
After earning his bachelor's degree with a major in Visual Communications from FAAP, in São Paulo, Reisewitz attended specialization courses of photography at the Fachoberschule für Gestaltung, in Darmstadt, and at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, in Mainz. After eight years living in Germany, Reisewitz returned to São Paulo in 1997. In 1998 he showed in Novíssimos, at Paço das Artes, in São Paulo, the first of numerous exhibitions in which he took part and that included Rumos Visuais, in 2000. In 2001 the photographer stood out among his peers for his series Conquista, displayed at the exhibition “Rede de Tensão”. The following year, he showed his work in “Nuevas Adquisiciones – Fundación ARCO”, held at the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea., of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. In 2003, Reisewitz’s work was selected for a relevant sampling of Brazilian contemporary art shown in the group exhibition “Arte e Sociedade – uma relação polêmica” [Art and Society: a controversial relationship] curated by Aracy Amaral.
Given of the fine tuning of Reisewitz’s career development over the last five years, 2005 comes along as an extremely productive year for the artist. Whereas at the 26th São Paulo Biennial visitors admired his natural landscapes, the new series to be shown at the 51st Venice Biennale exposes a different aspect of Reisewitz’s work. The unedited series Utopias Ameaçadas (Endangered Utopias) selected for display in the Brazilian pavilion of the Biennale comprises six large-format photographs (224 x 180 cm) that deconstruct building interiors laden with a powerful atmosphere.
Besides attending the Venice Biennial as a selected artist, Reisewitz will show in two solo exhibitions abroad in 2005. The first will open in August at Galeria Marella, in Milan (Italy); and the second will be held towards the end of the year at Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, of Frankfurt, Germany. His exhibition agenda also includes group showings at different locations such as the recently-opened “El Diablo No Es Tan Feo Como Se Pinta”, at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, of Buenos Aires (Argentina). In Brazil, Caio Reisewitz’s work will be shown in the exhibition “Alegoria Barroca na Arte Contemporânea” [Baroque Allegory in Contemporary Art], at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, of Rio de Janeiro, and in a group exhibition held at Torre Malakov, a unique venue in Recife, scheduled for September. The artist will also show in the exhibition “Klasse Maniz”, at Kunstverein Ludwigshaven, in Germany, and in the group exhibition “El Sutil Vertigo de la Imagen” [The Subtle Vortex of Image], at Centro Cultural Parque de España de Rosario, in Argentina.
