Regina Silveira | Fauna Mix
For a long time, Regina Silveira’s research has dealt with various possibilities regarding the signification and representation of Brazilian wildlife. As a new development in this investigation – which includes venomous animals, insect pests, fishes, mammals, and Brazilian birds – the artist presents the show Fauna Mix. Alluding to the aura of exoticism which has surrounded Brazilian wildlife for centuries, this is the opening show of the gallery’s 2022 exhibition season.
Various drawings of animals, with a highlight on some of their most intimidating parts, such as claws, beaks, fangs and tails, are chaotically overlain to one another to compose distinct imaginary scenes on four large tapestries. Made manually, the woven wool pieces faithfully convey the original digital design by the artist, who investigated various sources and appropriated different drawings of animals to assemble a varied repertoire of figures. In a second step, these figures were accumulated chaotically in a digital procedure in a disordered way without regard to the relationship of scale among them. The black-and-white of the wildlife represented is further highlighted with gradations of vibrant background colors. Besides the textile pieces, Fauna Mix also includes three large digital inkjet print on Hahnemühle paper based on the same thematic.
Since the series “Gone Wild” (1996), where coyote tracks took over the walls of the entrance hall of the Museum of Contemporary Art of San Diego (USA), Regina Silveira has worked with graphic narratives that involve a sort of animalization of the architectural spaces in which they are presented. Examples of these works include “Tropel” (1998), presented at the 28th Bienal de São Paulo, “Mundus Admirabilis” (2007), and “Bicho Gal” (2017), made by the artist for the musical spectacle “Fruta Gogoia”, an homage to the 70th birthday of singer Gal Costa. On that occasion, Regina created an entire imaginary scenario of an invasion of animals in order to compose a series of animations for the stage settings of the musical show produced by SESC-SP. The stage settings most notably included, as the show’s opening image, a large-format drawing of Gal’s hair made up of an assemblage of drawings of Brazilian wildlife. The artist considers this work as her best approximation so far to the possible interpretations of exoticism that have always been associated to our wildlife. This also gave rise to the idea of bringing the element of tapestry to this world of imagery, establishing a paradoxical relationship with the traditional historical tapestries of Europe – noble decorative pieces, generally symbolizing the power of monarchs and the clergy – especially with those made in Europe in the 16thand 17th centuries.
Recently, the artist also made a series of carpets titled “Tropicals”, as a site-specific work for the lobby of the Rosewood Hotel in the Cidade Matarazzo project, with parodic images of various Brazilian wildlife species. Simultaneously with Fauna Mix, Regina Silveira is also presenting “Outros Paradoxos”, a retrospective show held at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea MAC-USP, “Touch”, a large-format installation in the recently inaugurated Galeria Hugo França, in Trancoso (BA) and a solo exhibition at Galeria Bolsa de Arte, in Sao Paulo.
