Exhibition "Vanishing Point", by Antonio Bokel

The exposure Vanishing point, an installation project of Antonio Bokel, will be inaugurated in Lake Gallery. Curated by Isabel Portella, the exhibition celebrates the 20-year career of the Rio de Janeiro-born visual artist and presents a work in express dialogue with the Museu da República – formerly Palácio do Catete – a monument of historical relevance in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro.

Driven by the invitation to create a symbolic intersection between art, architecture, history and landscape, Bokel immersed himself in the institution's archives and dedicated himself to researching the place that, at the end of the 19th century, housed the Presidency of the Republic and was the scene of intense political articulations.

Among facts and many curiosities, he discovered that there was a controversial anchorage there known as Ponte do Flamengo, built next to Avenida Beira Mar (and demolished in the 1960s, with the construction of Aterro), where a vessel for the exclusive use of the acting president docked. It was possibly an escape route.

When visiting the Galeria do Lago exhibition area, Antonio noticed that one of the windows overlooking the 120 square meter garden that connects the palace to Praia do Flamengo, frames a monumental corridor of imperial palm trees. This perspective that leads to the old dock was the poetic trigger for the artist's first installation project, which was based on a constructivist logic.

“The vertical arrangement of the symmetrically aligned palm trees, leading to the museum’s exit towards Aterro, prompted me to reproduce the same parallelism within the exhibition space. I created ten totems in corten steel (180 cm x 30 cm), a material that reacts to time, installed side by side. At the end of the room, a large mirror reflects the totems, duplicating them and giving the illusion of continuity of the vanishing point,” he describes.

In the smaller room, two aluminum bars are placed on the floor, deconstructing the architecture and establishing a geometric composition that establishes the path that leads the viewer to the installation of the totems. Between them, a black painting, measuring 200 cm x 120 cm, materializes the perspective and reinforces the synthetic expression of constructivism. A palm leaf sculpted in bronze rests on the canvas.

“He is a contemporary artist dialoguing with the history of the Catete Palace, which spans over 160 years. Bokel managed to create this relationship with the space, converting the architectural design into geometric shapes. He explores depth, including the perspective of the visitor who, through the mirror, becomes another layer of the work,” says Isabel. “It is an architectural, landscape and historical dialogue.” The curator also emphasizes that characteristic aspects of Antonio’s production, such as the diversity of materials and supports, and the relationship with the city, are present.

When asked about the passage of time in his work over the course of his two decades of artistic career, Bokel states that in the last ten years there has been a clear transformation in his work, guided by geometry and sculptural thinking:

“Since 2014, my work has been undergoing a progressive process of eliminating noise, keeping only what is essential. Geometry was the starting point for this phase in which sculpture gained prominence. Although these are timeless forms, I am interested in investigating how this geometric logic connects with contemporaneity,” reveals the artist.

Service
Exhibition | Vanishing point
From September 12th to November 12th
Tuesday to Friday, from 10am to 12pm and from 13pm to 17pm, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, from 11am to 18pm