Jonathas is one of the most important Brazilian artists today. He represented his country at the Venice Biennale 2022 with the show With the heart coming out of the mouth, which was amongst the most highlighted pavilions of the 59th Biennale. In his practice, the 41-year-old artist has been questioning historical and social processes in Brazil, mixing engaged and profound research with a very poetic and unique expression. He deconstructs ideas of identity, nationality, and modernism by digging into Brazilian history and questioning contemporary issues in videos, photos, and installations.
BY
Julia Flamingo
Eye-Spark was the name of Jonathas de Andrade’s exhibition at MAAT in Lisbon, a comprehensive and exciting retrospective of the Brazilian artist’s practice, on view from January to April 2023. The show curated by the Portuguese duo João Mourão and Luís Silva was the first selected for the 100 Collectors’ monthly visit to art venues, in March. And what a great place to start our club!
Jonathas is one of the most important Brazilian artists today. He represented his country at the Venice Biennale 2022 with the show With the heart coming out of the mouth, which was amongst the most highlighted pavilions of the 59th Biennale. In his practice, the 41-year-old artist has been questioning historical and social processes in Brazil, mixing engaged and profound research with a very poetic and unique expression. He deconstructs ideas of identity, nationality, and modernism by digging into Brazilian history and questioning contemporary issues in videos, photos, and installations.
The presence of the male body has taken center stage in his practice as a starting point to address important (and sometimes taboo) issues such as eroticism, male romantic encounters, erotic splendor, and clandestine meeting spots. This homoerotic gaze was the strong narrative focused by Eye-Spark curators. We asked one of them, Luís Silva, to walk our 100 Collectors’ group through the exhibition to tell this story.During one hour, the twenty collectors discovered and discussed several layers of Jonathas de Andrade’s work, the curatorial practice, and so many other topics related to alternative narratives in contemporary art, decolonial thinking, and queerness.
We then followed to the MAAT Café, with a privileged view of the Tejo River during sunset, where we had good drinks and nice chats! The cutting-edge museum designed by British Amanda Levete which opened in 2016 is a landmark of a bustling Lisbon full of innovation, art, and culture – and that’s the reason why this is where our first 100 Collectors club takes place.
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