Exhibition “Cássio Vasconcellos – Picturesque Journey through Brazil”

Nara Roesler Sao Paulo is pleased to present the exposure “Picturesque trip through Brazil” with nineteen large format photographs, recent and unpublished, Cassio Vasconcellos, the result of three years of incursions by the artist into Atlantic forest in the states of São Paulo, Paraná e Rio de Janeiro. The curation is Ana Maria Belluzzo, critic and researcher, professor of Art History at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU), at the University of São Paulo. The event integrates the Jardim Europa Circuit, which will happen on this day.  

 At the opening, in the 17 day of August, at 11 h, will be book released “Cássio Vasconcellos – Picturesque Journey through Brazil” (Photo Editorial, 2024), with 192 pages, format 32 x 23,5cm, and texts by the curator and researcher Angela Berlinde, by the historian Julio Bandeira and botanical Ricardo Cardin.
 

The work process of Cassio Vasconcellos It encompasses many trips, “a lot of mud and ticks”, and then extensive and detailed photography post-production work, in order to “clean up” the excess information carried by the image of the forest, and thus obtain the desired result. “I like explore the limits of photography a lot. That's what interests me as a language”He says. 

DIALOGUE WITH TRAVELING ARTISTS  

The title of the exhibition refers to the first known records of Brazilian forests, started by the French aristocrat and archaeologist Count of Clarac (1777-1847), with his drawing “Brazil’s Virgin Forest”, engraved on metal by Claude François Stronger (1775-1835), in 1822, reference for the so-called “traveling artists” do 19st century, members of the French Artistic Mission, as Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768-1848), who upon returning to France published “Picturesque and Historical Trip to Brazil” (1834-1839). 

Unlike traveling artists, Cassio Vasconcellos need to find the right framing. “Artists of the 19th century took a scene that they could later adjust in the studio, removing, for example, a palm tree that was disturbing the image”, he compares. “The forest is very difficult to photograph. It's a tremendous visual confusion, because there are infinite planes. It's a lot of information at once. And it's very easy to fall into banality. There are many kilometers of walking to find the perfect angle, and it often takes me a whole day to take a photo. Contrary to what many people imagine, I I prefer cloudy days and even a drizzle. The sunlight in the forest is not good, it bursts in high lights, and in the shade it turns black. Under our tropical sun, light takes a beating,” she explains. 

 Cassio Vasconcellos uses digital equipment, and after recording in the forest, he works with many layers of post-production. “I give a desaturated. The tones vary: sometimes they are more or less green, or a sepia. A fainter color, something in between.” “There are many steps in the studio to achieve the result.”  

 The curator and researcher Theo Monteiro highlights that “it is very difficult to photograph dense forest, and with the treatment carried out by Cassio he manages to create a type of representation that is very reminiscent of what foreign travelers did – Clarac, roaring (1802-1858), Thomas Ender (1793-1875) – but it is photography”. “With this treatment very exquisite e elaborate, we remain in doubt for a few moments whether it is photography or engraving, which is an idea from photography and contemporary art: what medium are we talking about? To what extent is that environment true or not, whether it is real or imaginary? It is not simply a re-reading of an academic work. He has a way of framing the look that is understandable. As panoramic as Cássio’s work is,, you can identify each of the elements. There's a naturism, a detail. It’s not just about taking a photo of the forest,” she says.  

 Cassio Vasconcellos highlights: “I am not worried about revisiting the places created by traveling artists, and it would not even be possible, with the transformation that has taken place in the landscape since then”.  

 For the public to understand this dialogue proposed by the artist with the traveling painters, high quality reproductions of works will be on display "Forest Virgin Du Brazil” (“Virgin Forest of Brazil”),1822, burin, 68 x 87 cm, metal engraving Claude Francois Stronger based on a drawing by the Count of Clarac; "Forests Virgin (The edges du Parahiba)” e “Serra do Mar Valley” (“"Excellence Award" de Mountains near de la mer), lithographs of Charles sod (1784-1836), based on drawings by Jean-Baptiste Debret, present in the edition of “Picturesque and Historical Trip to Brazil”, Paris, Firmin Didot Frères, volume I, 1834.  

 IMMERSION IN THE FOREST 

At the back of the double-height hall, there will be a curved panel, with three meters high and twelve meters wide, with the image of a fig tree in the Rio Grande do Sul, which will fill half the room, “so the person can have a certain immersion”, highlights the artist. The original photograph will also be on display, framed.  

 The exhibition covers two walls that will be built in the first room, to receive the photographs.  

 “It’s a great tribute to forests, both the book and the exhibition. I went to many of these forests with Cardim, who is a walking encyclopedia, a botanist very interested in environmental issues, the destruction that was done, the remnants. A class in which we learn what they did against the forests”, highlights the artist. 

 Ana Maria Belluzzo, in the text that accompanies the exhibition, highlights that “the artist refines values ​​inherent to photography, accentuates and transforms records of the real, which are interpreted using digital edition resources”. “The image gains expressive content when it appears coated with plastic, graphic, tactile dimensions”, he observes. “Under the command of light writing, the light rays emitted by vegetation reach us. Backlit views introduce the subject/observer into the forest. On the other hand, the blurring of the background of the photos and the blurred appearance of plant entities, highlighted, tend to recreate enigmatic, even fantastic scenarios. Motivate dream sensations. The vision of nature escapes us. THE The unreality of the landscape is also insinuated by the extreme clarity of enlarged details. Images transport us to a fantastic world, sometimes ghostly".   

A video about the process of Cassio Vasconcellos, made in 2019, can be seen via the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g03O0eTahJ4. 

Service
Exhibition | Cássio Vasconcellos – Picturesque Journey through Brazil
From the 17th of August to the 12th of October
Monday to Friday from 10:19 to 11:15, Saturday from XNUMX:XNUMX to XNUMX:XNUMX