São Paulo – May 22 through July 22 will see venue Espaço Cultural Porto Seguro host Instrumentos, the first solo show ever in Latin America by the French-Tunisian visual artist Ismaïl Bahri. Featuring nine video installations, the exhibit has been curated by Marie Bertran, in a coproduction from company Expomus Exposições, Museus, Projetos Culturais Ltda. Admission is free, and the show will be open from Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 am to 7 pm, and on Sundays and public holidays, 10 am to 5 pm.
The videos feature simple movements and elements; a pulsing vein, a separating line, hands that crumble (like in the picture above), the wind that blows, the fire that burns. Water, paper and ink go from being commonplace objects to being protagonists. Bahri sets out to investigate objects, scales, angles and languages.
There is an established plotline to the video installations, and this lends power to the artworks as a whole. Issues like memory, territory, belonging and involvement are approached in a way that is at once emotional, personal and sober, and this might give off an odd impression.
“In my work I value the quest for simplicity. The challenge lies in finding a way to approach a personal issue in order to address a problem everyone has,” a press release quoted the artist as saying.
The ephemerality of the phenomena observed through Bahri’s lenses often forces viewers to adjust their perception and the extent of their gaze. The absence of sound in many of the pieces enhances the density of the oeuvre, taking spectators on an inner journey, through the recognition of self and of everyone in a seemingly commonplace action.
The exhibition unfolds in a crescendo; the plane, which at first comprises a drop spanning no more than three millimeters, enlarges until it accommodates an entire landscape. The same holds true of the content, which starts out on the material, figurative end of the spectrum and ends up fluid and abstract.
(Story continues after gallery)
The artist
Ismaïl Bahri was born in 1978 in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. He currently lives in Tunis, Paris and Lyon, in France. Video as a form of expression occupies a relevant position within his oeuvre, which also includes drawings, photographs and installations. He focuses on simple elements of daily life, developing processes and exploring universal issues through them.
Quick facts
Instruments – A solo show by Ismaïl Bahri
Espaço Cultural Porto Seguro
Alameda Barão de Piracicaba, 610 – Campos Elíseos – São Paulo
May 22 to July 22
Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 7 pm; Sundays and public holidays, 10 am to 5 pm
Free admission
Find out more on Espaço Cultural Porto Seguro website (in Portuguese).
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
