Exhibition highlights the importance of leaves in the universe of Orixás and Afro-Brazilian culture
The photographic exhibition of the photographer and plastic artist Alexandre Mury will be on at Roberto Alban Art Gallery
Without leaves there is no Orixá! This Iorubá saying that summarizes one of the principles of Candomblé and other Afro-Brazilian religions served as the base for the new exhibition that the Rio-born photographer and plastic artist Alexandre Mury presents in Salvador from 05/07/2015 The exhibition, named “Orixás”, results from an artistic and philosophic visit to the Afro-Brazilian universe from a research carried out by him, during two months, in Bahia’s capital. The exhibition is on until 06/08/2015 at Roberto Alban Art Gallery, in Ondina, from Monday to Friday, 10:00am to 7:00pm; Saturday, from 10:00am to 1:00pm.
Mury’s work resulted in the composition of 12 Orixás, in a free interpretation based on the symbology of leaves associated to the human figure. With his research in Bahia, the photographer wanted to investigate the religious theme from the close contact with the people that live Candomblé in their daily life, taking to his life this decisive influence. “I had an idea in my mind, but when I arrived in Salvador everything changed. It changed in the construction and in the own sense of the work that I imagined to do”, says Mury, pointing out the importance of the process in the final result.
And this result, according to him, comes from the attentive observation of the appropriation of the signs and meanings of Candomblé by the people of Bahia. “Here, even those who don’t believe in Candomblé end up incorporating something of Candomblé in their daily life”, observes the artist, who says that he searched in his work for ancestry in its most essential character. At this point, the nature element, especially the leaves, enters as the theme of the exhibition.
The research carried out by Mury took into account all the kinds of leaves used in the religious ceremonies and practices linked to the Afro-Brazilian cult, including also the leaves used in popular medicine. “I studied and elaborated all that was related to this aspect of Candomblé. That’s why I say that this exhibition is not the result of a plastic work, but of an ethnographic investigation”, states Mury.
The curator of the exhibition, Roberto Conduru, considers this new one by Alexandre Mury not only artistic but also political as it propagates new images of Afro-Brazilian deities. With this, according to what he says, Mury “reiterates Candomblé’s vitality, the up-to-dateness of its worldview and sacred imaginary; and reaffirms the need to divulge them in a social juncture marked by restraints and persecution to the African religions in Brazil.”
Another differential of this new work, according to the curator’s explanation, is the fact that Mury created his own representations, without relying on pre-existent works, avoiding explicit remissions to exponential icons of the history of Art and visual culture. “His images are his own because the artist gives them flesh, surrounds himself and dresses in matters that are essential to the beings represented: the elements of nature and the specific leaves of each Orixá…Before, beyond his presence, his subjectivity was outlined as he collected images and combined additions and subtractions in the re-readings. Now, it incurs in other risks, manifesting itself from the guiding scheme to the details of each mise en scène”, observes Conduru.
For Mury, the series Orixás is a great challenge in his artistic trajectory. “I’m not from Salvador, I’m not religious, but I dealt with the theme in an extremely reverent way”, sums up the artist, who was born in São Fidelis (Rio de Janeiro) and has in his curriculum solo and group exhibitions in Brazil and abroad, with works in the Gilberto Chateaubriand Collection and Caixa Cultural/RJ.
Exhibition: Orixás/ Alexandre Mury
Opening: 05/07/2015, at 8:00pm
Visiting hours: 05/08/2015 to 06/08/2015 2015 (Monday to Friday, 10:00am to 7:00pm; Saturday, 10:00 to 1:00pm)
Venue: Roberto Alban Art Gallery
Address: Rua Senta Pua, 53 Ondina – Phone: + 55 71 3243-3982/ 3326-5633
Publicist
Companhia de Comunicação
Phones: + 55 71 3247-5851/88921119 (Antonio Moreno)