MASP

Defined by the artist herself as “sculptures created in space,” the works of Leonor Antunes establish relationships between sculpture, architecture, design, light, and the body. The artist gives special attention to the materials she uses, which are often natural or organic, and to the effects left on them by time and their use, highlighting lines and weaves, techniques and textures. One of the most striking features of her practice is her interest in several 20th-century artists, architects, and designers, whom she investigates and is inspired by. In this sense, Antunes constructs a true archive of references, composed above all by pioneering women modernists who have often been left out of the grand narratives of art history, and who emerge as characters in her works. A key figure in this archive is Lina Bo Bardi (1914–1992), the architect of the MASP building. Bo Bardi is referenced in Antunes’s work vazios, intervalos e juntas, which is composed of two Brazilian Ipê wood frames—fit together without using nails or screws—with two meshes positioned within them. In one, the knots are inspired by indigenous fish net making traditions; in the other, Antunes alludes to Anni Albers (1899–1994), an artist trained in the Bauhaus weaving workshop and an important figure in the art historical reconsideration of textiles. Thus, different figures are presented in a single space, valorizing the interaction between art and architecture, and between knowledge from different times, techniques, and languages, whether industrial or craft, authorial or anonymous.

— Amanda Carneiro

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