The restlessness of Angelo Venosa’s sculptures celebrates the 20 years of Vale Museum

Bold angles, twisted solids, and infinite combinations that transition from the organic to the spectacular make up Penumbra, a unique exhibition by the artist, curated by Vanda Klabin.

New horizons of investigation and aesthetic research by sculptor Angelo Venosa will be presented to the public for the first time, starting on May 24 at the Vale Museum, Vila Velha – ES.

In the exhibition, which commemorates the institution’s 20 years, the artist will present sculptures incorporated into their own shadows, giving an intriguing poetic universe to the space. Six of the sculptures were created especially for the exhibition.

Wood, aluminum, fiberglass, plastic, and 3D printers are some of the materials used in the elaboration process of Venosa’s sculptures, showcasing the uniqueness of his artistic practice, developed from his experience with craftsmanship (inheriting from his father the knowledge of working with wood and design).

Of expansive nature, he developed historical shortcuts and became one of the greatest exponents of the contemporary cultural scene. Tuned in with new technologies, he started working with 3D printing, giving his sculptures endless combinatory possibilities.

– Restless and inquisitive, Angelo Venosa’s works problematize the viewer’s vision – says Vanda Klabin, revealing that the artist will explore at the Vale Museum the equivalence between full and empty areas, projecting shadows onto the architectural surfaces of the institution. – As these works are developed, forms emerge and acquire an unexpected plasticity. A whole notion of movement is present in these shifting shadows, where the most varied and ambiguous forms sprout, and these zones of indeterminacy acquire a plastic presence that is constructed and experienced in the space itself – concludes the curator.

– Angelo Venosa’s exhibition in the celebrations of the 20 years of Vale Museum reaffirms the institution’s commitment to promoting art and culture as a phenomenon of transformation and education for young people, says Ronaldo Barbosa, director of the Museum. For Ronaldo, Venosa is an artist who walks in parallel with his time, always dedicated to experimenting with new materials, technologies, and their developments in his creative process.

– At Vale Museum, he says, the sculptor will dazzle by exhibiting a new way of perceiving his works. After the exhibition period at Vale Museum, from May 24 to September 9, a “slice” of the Penumbra exhibition will go to Memorial Minas Gerais Vale in Belo Horizonte, remaining on display from September 29 to November 25, 2018, as part of the Cultural Itinerancy Program.

The program foresees the exchange of artistic and cultural content among the four cultural spaces sponsored by Vale, located in four of the five Brazilian regions, as well as actions to enhance cultural identity in municipalities throughout the countryside.

Artist

Angelo Venosa (São Paulo, 1954. Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro) emerged on the Brazilian art scene in the 1980s, becoming one of the leading figures of that generation.

Since that period, Venosa laid the foundations for a trajectory that has solidified in the national and international circuit, including participation in the Venice Biennale (1993), São Paulo Biennale (1987), and Mercosul Biennial (2005).

Today, the artist has public sculptures installed at the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (Ibirapuera Park); at the São Paulo Pinacoteca (Jardim da Luz); on Copacabana/Leme Beach in Rio de Janeiro; in Santana do Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul; and at the José Ermírio de Moraes Park in Curitiba.

He has works in important Brazilian and foreign collections, along with a comprehensive book of his work published by Cosac Naify in 2008.