Exhibition "The Theater", by Lidia Lisbôa

Lydia Lisbon (1970, Terra Roxa, PR, Brazil) presents “The Theater”, his second solo show at millan, opening on September 14. The exhibition is curated by Cristiano Raimondi and brings together a wide range of materials and supports — textiles, ceramics, bronze, drawings — presented in an immersive installation. Throughout the exhibition, the space will host performances and activations, setting itself up as a stage where the artist's stories and gestures can take shape.

Lidia Lisbôa’s work is the result of a practice that constantly intertwines art and life, body and memory. The new exhibition allows us to enter her poetic universe through an installation, in which the floor and part of the walls are covered in a red carpet. The color here is a symbol of a visceral force, as defined by the curator, pointing to the internal and external dimensions of the artist’s work. “Theater as metaphor and simulacrum, theater as the ideal space to talk about life, theater as a place of sacredness and concentration,” says Cristiano Raimondi. This scenic aspect also dates back to the beginning of Lidia’s career, when she was part of theater groups, in addition to working in sewing studios and acting as a costume designer.

The exhibition brings together the artist's already well-known series, such as Termite mounds, sculptures created in ceramic or bronze; Umbilical cords, in which she draws fluid lines in space using wire, buttons and porcelain; Teats that gave to breastfeed the world, textile sculptures created with crochet; and Casulos, also crocheted, which are wearable objects used in performances. In all of these works, manual work is a determining characteristic, acting as an exercise in subjective construction.

“O Teatro” also includes works on paper such as the series Frutas (2009) and Mulher (1995) — both exhibited for the first time — and the recent drawings from the Memórias de renda series. Created with Indian ink or watercolor, these works reveal a more intimate scale of Lidia’s poetics and attest to an incessant practice that has remained vigorous over the years. “The same energy that I put into a ball of clay, I also put into a drawing on the corner of the paper or into a huge crochet sculpture,” says the artist. “We are always reinventing ourselves.”

Lidia Lisbôa is also currently showing the following solo shows: Têta at MAR – Museu de Arte do Rio until November 3; and Mulher Esqueleto at Sesc Araraquara until January 19. Her recent group exhibitions include the following: Threads to the South at ISLAA (New York, 2024); The Ocean is the Axis at Mariane Ibrahim Gallery (Mexico City, 2024); Vai, vai, Saudade at Museo Madre (Naples, 2024); 37th Panorama of Brazilian Art at MAM (São Paulo, 2022); and the 13th Mercosul Biennial (Porto Alegre, 2022). Her works are part of important institutional collections such as ISLAA (New York), Museo Del Barrio (New York), MARGS (Porto Alegre) and Pinacoteca de São Paulo.

Service
Exhibition | The theater
From September 14th to October 19th
Monday to Friday, 10am to 19pm, and Saturdays and holidays, 11am to 15pm