PAULO NIMER PJOTA

The starting point of Paulo Nimer Pjota’s works is the nature of collectively originated phenomena. His research and practice focus on an in-depth study of a kind of popular iconography which can only develop through complex processes operated by numerous individuals. We can therefore think of his production as the representation of a plural and agitated dialogue, with ever-changing interpretations, running through multiple streams of consciousness. The artist usually employs as media large canvases, sacks and metal sheets. Most of these materials are found in waste depots and go through processes of negotiation and displacement. Naturally, the chosen pieces come with traces from other times and uses, so that they provide an initial terrain — graphic and spiritual — for that which will take form on these surfaces. From that point, he creates overarching tales within the tension between the freedom of random choice and the precision of a meticulous composition, combining representations in a constellation of suspended bodies. This is when art-history and mass culture go hand in hand, as well as universal canons and everyday banalities, universal symbols and regional themes.

Paulo Nimer Pjota most recent solo exhibitions include The history in repeat mode — image, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels; Maureen Paley / Morena di Luna, Hove  (2017); 1º Mostra do programa de exposições, Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2012). Additionally, his work has been included in institutional group exhibitions as Painting |or|Not, The KaviarFactory, Lofoten, Norway (2017); Soft Power, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort (2016); 19º Sesc_Videobrasil, São Paulo (2015); Here There, Qatar Museums – Al Riwaq, Doha (2015); Imagine Brazil, Astrup Feranley Museet, Oslo (2013) / DHC/Art Foundation for Contemporary, Montreal (2015); 12^th Biennale de Lyon, Lyon (2013).