ART-PREVIEW:Waltercio Caldas

Waltercio Caldas, Absoluto, 2017, Acrylic on cardboard and stainless steel, 44 x 72 x 40 cm, Photo: Frédéric Lanternier, Courtesy Galerie Xippas and Galeria Raquel ArnaudWaltercio Caldas’s work defies typical interpretation and classification. Using materials that range from the refined to the commonplace, his sculpture, installations, and drawings examine the physical qualities of objects and spaces, often challenging the assumptions viewers bring to the act of looking. He defines his practice as the act of sculpting the distance between objects, inverting the conventional definition of sculpture as a dense, self-contained volume. Above all, simplicity and formal precision define his art, qualities that speak to his aim to produce what he describes as “Maximally present work through minimal action”.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Xippas Gallery Archive

A selection of works by the Brazilian artist Waltercio Caldas is on presentation at the Galerie Xippas in Geneva. Watercio Caldas uses industrial materials as stainless steel, vinyl and domestic materials as wool and pins, materials used in a direct and clear way. The precise use of these materials, with aseptic and clear shapes, offer a sense of space density, and, at the same time, of accumulation. The use of the structure, surfaces and transparent polished materials reinforce the effect of light and gives visibility and formal coherence to his works. In 1960 Caldas had his first exhibition with objects at The Philosophy Department of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The first works with his particular own language are dated 1968, small miniatures of cardboard with architectural character. A year later (1969) he produced a serie of “objects driving to perception”, developing his own language. First solo exhibiton in 1973 at the MAM (Museum of Modern Art) of Rio de Janeiro and in 1975 at the Gallery Luisa Strina of São Paulo. Caldas is coeditor of various magazines, like Malasartes and A Parte de Fogo. From 1976, he combines his artistic career with graphic design for the company Eletrobrás. From 1985 to 1987 he moved to New York. It is at the end of the 80´s when Waltercio Caldas shows regularly in exhibitions with international character in Brazil, as well as abroad at important institutions such as the National Museum of Fine Arts and Cultural Centre Lights in Rio, the Museum of Modern Art in Salvador de Bahia. He has represented Brazil at the Sao Paulo Biennale in 1996 and at the Venice Biennale in 1997. His work is related to Neo-Concretism, a movement that first evolved in Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s within artists as Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica with a “multi- sensorial” approach to the art object.

Info: Rue des Sablons 6 & Rue des Bains 61, Geneva, Duration: 17/5-30/6/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 14:00-18:30, Sat 12:00-17:00, www.xippas.com

Left to Right: Waltercio Caldas, Wings, 2008, Stainless steel and eool yarm, 240 x 215 x 45 cm, Photo: Fabio del Re, Courtesy Galerie Xippas and Galeria Raquel Arnaud. Waltercio Caldas, Blue glasses, 2012, Enamel on stainless steel, 62,5 x 60 x 50,5 cm, Photo: Jaime Acioli, Courtesy Galerie Xippas and Galeria Raquel Arnaud. Waltercio Caldas, Not Now, 2014, Stainless steel, glass and acrylic, 150 x 163 x 128 cm, Photo: Jaime Acioli, Courtesy Galerie Xippas and Galeria Raquel Arnaud
Left to Right: Waltercio Caldas, Wings, 2008, Stainless steel and eool yarm, 240 x 215 x 45 cm, Photo: Fabio del Re, Courtesy Galerie Xippas and Galeria Raquel Arnaud. Waltercio Caldas, Blue glasses, 2012, Enamel on stainless steel, 62,5 x 60 x 50,5 cm, Photo: Jaime Acioli, Courtesy Galerie Xippas and Galeria Raquel Arnaud. Waltercio Caldas, Not Now, 2014, Stainless steel, glass and acrylic, 150 x 163 x 128 cm, Photo: Jaime Acioli, Courtesy Galerie Xippas and Galeria Raquel Arnaud

 

 

Waltercio Caldas, Step by step, 2013, Enamel on stainless steel, 40 x 220 x 20 cm / 40 x 60 x 20 each, Photo: courtesy C. Grimes, Courtesy Galerie Xippas and Galeria Raquel Arnaud
Waltercio Caldas, Step by step, 2013, Enamel on stainless steel, 40 x 220 x 20 cm / 40 x 60 x 20 each, Photo: courtesy C. Grimes, Courtesy Galerie Xippas and Galeria Raquel Arnaud