Ao redor da distância Paulo Monteiro
“His creations deal with the abysmal substance of what is ultra-common, which we all can feel in our sinews. However, he does not go for representations; his subject is not the things, but the potential of life itself, that force which precedes everything that exists. Each move he makes aims for the essential drive prior to the phenomena themselves, the disposition prior to the idea. What interests the artist are the plural ways through which life reveals itself.” – Germano Dushá
Mendes Wood DM is pleased to present Ao redor da distância, Paulo Monteiro's first solo exhibition in São Paulo after seven years. An ongoing dialogue between painting and sculpture drives the exhibition, presenting new works by the artist that explore matter and its capacity to transform into diverse forms. For the first time in the large space of the Barra Funda gallery, Monteiro invites us to interact with his paintings, sculptures, and objects of varying dimensions, prompting us to explore the environment, observe closely, take distance, and reflect on bridges between our inner lives and everyday forms, objects.
An elevated structure, designed as a kind of base, displays different shapes in the show. Cuts, stacks, reliefs, folds, and dismantling bring out sculptures that evoke the abstract. A few, however, allow figures to be identified, such as hammers, nails and wires – objects that have accompanied the artist throughout his career, emerging from drawings of his youth and childhood memories.
Born in São Paulo, Paulo Monteiro began his artistic journey as a teenager, immersed in the universe of comic books, inspired by names such as Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton. At the same time, he explored small sculptures with everyday materials, guided by his father’s encouragement. In his 20s, influenced by Philip Guston, he decided to embrace painting as his vocation. Between 1983 and 1985, together with Carlito Carvalhosa, Fábio Miguez, Nuno Ramos, and Rodrigo Andrade, he cofounded the Casa 7 collective, which reintroduced figurative painting to the art scene.
From the late 80s onwards, his research began to engage with issues in Brazilian art, revisiting the Concretism of the 50s and the Neo-Concretism of the 60s. Influenced by Mira Schendel and Willys de Castro, Monteiro unfolds the pictorial plane into three-dimensional dimensions, creating an interaction between the layers of paint that make up his works. Lines intertwine and dissolve, creating a freedom that evokes ambiguous sensations, as if they were detached from their own contours. Her most recent paintings explore images that emerge from the overlapping of layers, challenging the uniformity of flat colors.
“When I’m producing, I don’t worry about what I’m doing in terms of drawing. What interests me is the question of color, matter, transparency, layers, the atmosphere that forms in each work,” reflects Paulo Monteiro.
Monteiro empirically explores the mechanics of solids and fluids, examining how forces, temperature, and density affect matter. His relentless pursuit of form results in works that feel interrupted, like animated objects oscillating between humor and sensuality. Capturing the world’s density simply and unpretentiously, he invites reflection on the deepest aspects of daily life, revealing that beauty and complexity often hide in simple gestures. Interacting with his art, we rediscover the richness of small things and are reminded of the possibilities of life that manifest in every form, layer, and nuance around us.