MASP

As well as being an artist, Emmanuel Nasar – from the state of Pará – has also worked as an architect and in advertising, a trajectory that is often reflected in many of his works. In Exquadro, a hand suggests the fundamental gesture in the work. Using a practically monochromatic composition, Nassar makes reference to one of the fundamental tools in architectural design: the set square — formed by a support bracket and linear measurement tool which, when in motion, can create a circle — which in this work appears only as potential. The fine balance in the composition is held by the gesture, the line, the straight angle, the communication between the vertical and horizontal planes in the canvas, and also the relationship between the wooden slat, the knots and nails that support the literally manual square. Even though the composition deals directly with the painting frame and its perpendicular nature, the artist uses a game of light and shadow to subtly create a three-dimensional space where the objects and the human hand are displayed. The artist’s initials, E and N, like in other works by Nassar, are part of the composition, suggesting the cardinal points, E for East and N for North, which instead of being placed in their precise positions, function as polarities in tension. Here, North stands in an unexpected place, aligned to the composition’s foundational base, and East is tattooed on the wrist of the individual who is gesticulating and changing the order of the scene. The picture is a system in a sort of precarious balance, an order of forces between the limitations of devices, materials and techniques versus the world of possibilities that lies behind artistic gestures, shapes, figures and symbols. Even though small, without the (artist’s) finger, the whole picture could never hold up.

— Guilherme Giufrida, assistant curator, MASP, 2023

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