Marcelo Conrado - O que é Original?

Ministério da Cidadania apresenta
O QUE É ORIGINAL?
Marcelo Conrado
WHAT IS ORIGINAL?

Too much perfection is a mistake
Perfeição demais é um erro
2017
E o que vem depois?
And what comes next?
2017
Maria José Justino
Curadora

ENGLISH VERSION
When the artist Marcelo Conrado asks, “what
is original” he makes us wonder about a
universe of anonymous information that is
all around us, ranging from a random dialog
between friends to graffiti, from messages
shared in social networks to traditional truck
bumper sentences.
It is a pleasure for the Oscar Niemeyer Museum
to perform this exhibition, which certainly will
spark interesting reflections in each one of us.
Doctor in the art authorship subject, Conrado
brings the questioning about the concept
of originality on contemporary art to the
Museum. However, what actually is art and
authorship? What does not belong to anyone
belongs to everyone?
For him, the most important thing are not
the answers, but each individual reflection
sparked by the pieces. For such a goal, the
artist presents us pictures collected from
image databases, which, after receiving
anonymous sentences, make us wonder.
In a fine balance between image and text,
he also exhibits his paintings. These, on the
other hand, through the influence of several
other artists, keep alive the main question that
guides his proposal—what is original to you?
Juliana Vellozo Almeida Vosnika
Chief Executive Officer
Museu Oscar Niemeyer
WHAT IS ORIGINAL?
It is impossible to enter into this theme without
referring to the reflections of Walter Benjamin
when he treats the subject of the artist as
creator, of technical reproducibility of art
and the concept of aura. For him, the aura
is possible only in the unique work, the one
that keeps authenticity, which is based on the
ritual. Aura is the DNA of art. The possibility
of reproduction via new technologies affects
the aura, particularly painting. Reproduction
techniques, by stripping the object from its
veil, alter the function of art. These vicissitudes
open the way both for the attempt of art for art
and for the exercise of political art.
With the advent of information technology
(technologies that Benjamin did not reach),
the artist seeks to distance herself from the
aura. New symbologies take shape, reaching
the identification of art with the concept, in
which there is no more place for art for art –
art becomes related to politics, anthropology,
sociology, philosophy, etc. “Pure” art no
longer makes sense.
Conrado suffers from these influxes. But
his adventure through art does not mean
a passage from visuality (painting) to
conceptual art (photos-phrases). Far from it,
the poetic and the political purpose coexist
in it. The contemplative aesthetic coexists
with the permutative: painting, photos, texts,
ideas. Conrado balances in two strands.

In painting, he exercises his expression,
emotion, subjectivity. But needs to express a
desire for rationality, which consumes in the
photos/texts. By appropriating symbologies
– images and words – builds a trap and
imprisons the viewer, who is compelled
to reflect. Where are these pictures from?
Somewhere, at the same time, many of them
are accessible to everyone, available via
the internet or scattered on the street. The
authors? Lost in time.
In these photos/phrases Conrado has a
precision in the choice. But if there is a
selection of phrases and images, this impels
us to the question: in the choice does not
remain an authorship? In painting there
is no doubt, the artist is the author. And
in those other experiences, where is the
authorship? Who is the creator? And what
is original? Conrado believes that, even if
he appropriates another work, the artist,
in resignifying, can be original. In this way,
authorship becomes fluid.
Conrado settles on the borders between
aesthetic and social, between art and politics.
All of his recent work balances on the idea of
ownership, from images to ideas. Dissolution
of the object (art) and the creator-consumer
relations; appropriation and anonymity; the
interaction of the public with the artist’s
proposals. Rite of passage: birth and death,
entering another dimension. Conrado, like
Isis, collecting fragments of human existence,
asserts himself as a compassionate being,
sensitive to human tragedies, able to share
his discoveries and findings.
He took advantage of loose images in
life, freed from possession. Everything is
available, accessible on social networks or
random encounters: random phrases caught
somewhere – on trucks, motorcycles, movies,
literature, the street or prose with friends.
Everything is a source. With rare exceptions,
does not modify them, quotes them literally
(photos and phrases) as he finds them,
enjoying what can arise from the image and
text junction. This confrontation creates
disturbance, activates the brain, stimulates
sensitivity. But Conrado does not forget the
balance between painting and the concept:
not only gesture, not just rationality. As
Fernando Pessoa recalls: “One must also have
no philosophy at all. With philosophy there
are no trees, just ideas”.
Reflection and joy. Conrado gives us back the
pleasure of feeling and thinking.
Maria José Justino
Curator

Museu Oscar Niemeyer
Terça a domingo, 10h às 18h
Venda de ingressos até as 17h30
Venda de ingresso online: museuoscarniemeyer.org.br
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Período expositivo / Exhibition period
11 18 02
ABR > AGO SALA
APR AGO ROOM
2019
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Online ticket sales: museuoscarniemeyer.org.br
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Acrílica e nanquim sobre tela Acrylic and India ink on canvas
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