Fernando Zarif

Luciana Brito Galeria inaugurates its 2019 program with a solo show by Fernando Zarif (São Paulo, 1960 – 2010). A fundamental persona of São Paulo’s cultural scene as of the 1980s, Zarif developed, during his brief trajectory, a broad and interdisciplinary artistic production that encompasses languages as diverse as visual arts, opera, literature and graphic design.

By focusing on three distinct series, the exhibition presents, on the one hand, the diversity of Zarif’s production, while, on the other, pointing to the nearly compulsive meaning that daily creation performed for the artist. Superficiality and depth were not, after all, seen as opposites by Zarif, who conciliated those extremes by covering a broad territory of manifestations without falling into the trap of platitude.

Dozens of small dimensions canvas present Duchampian portraits, collages of objects as distinct as matches, threads, paper or glass, a series that highlights both the constructive as the well humored aspects of his production. Five floating sculptures – created from the accumulation of elements like coins, locks or keys – are three-dimensional and symbolic portraits and self-portraits. Finally, five black and white paintings in large dimensions, accomplished with the application of paint directly from the tubes, convey expressive and fast artistic gestures.

Including approximately 50 artworks, the exhibition follows a cycle of three encounters about the artist, promoted in 2018 by Luciana Brito Galeria with Zarif Project and conducted by curator Rafael Vogt Maia Rosa.