December 1, 2012 – February 23, 2013
“In a world where the subjective roles of the critic and editor have been pulverized to demographics and the engorging democracy of representations has aroused an even greater appetite for self-evident phenomena, Op Art may become an indicator of a new state of aesthetic evolution, more instinctively connected to its technological context and more emancipated from the tyranny of self-invested critical taste.” —Vik Muniz, 2012
Galeria Nara Roesler is pleased to present Buzz, a group show curated by Vik Muniz which will open to the public on Saturday, 1 December. The exhibition discusses the convergences and ramifications of Op Art and will feature a selection of works of over 55 artists including historical pieces by Abraham Palatnik, Almir Mavignier, Bridget Riley, Josef Albers, Larry Poons, Marcel Duchamp, in relation to more recent production by Fred Tomaselli, Jim Isermann, Michelle Grabner, Olafur Eliasson, Tauba Auerbach, Xylor Jane, Yayoi Kusama, and many others.
Nearly fifty years after the opening of MoMA’s seminal exhibition The Responsive Eye (1965), the paradigm surrounding the importance of Op Art in the history of modern art still endures. Buzz attempts to offer the public the chance to identify with and trace different aspects of “perceptual art” throughout the decades that followed its media apotheosis by demonstrating that, even though Op Art has already become history, many of its views remain active in the following decades. The group show illustrates the persistence of the legacy of Op Art, from its fall into obscurity to its renewed relevance within a context of a powerful and pervasive media environment dominated either by the discourse of science or consumption.
Buzz is part of Roesler Hotel, Galeria Nara Roesler’s program of curatorial projects.
Artists participating in Buzz: Abraham Palatnik, Alexander Girard, Alexandre Wollner, Almir da Silva Mavignier, Aluísio Carvão, Angelo Venosa, Bridget Riley, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Felipe Barbosa, François Morellet, Fred Tomaselli, Gabriele Evertz, Geraldo de Barros, Gilbert Hsiao, Gyula Kosice, Heinz Mack, Hélio Oiticica, Hercules Barsotti, Hermelindo Fiaminghi, Iran do Espírito Santo, Israel Pedrosa, Iván Navarro, Ivan Serpa, Jesús Rafael Soto, Jim Isermann, José Patrício, Josef Albers, Julio Le Parc, Karin Davie, Larry Poons, Lothar Charoux, Lucia Koch, Luiz Sacilotto, Lygia Pape, Marc Handelman, Marcel Duchamp, Marcos Chaves, Mark Dagley, Markus Linnenbrink, Maurício Nogueira de Lima, Michelle Grabner, Olafur Eliasson, Paulo Roberto Leal, Peter Schuyff, Philippe Decrauzat, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Roberto Cabot, Rodolpho Parigi, Ross Bleckner, Rubem Ludolf, Sérgio Camargo, Suzanne Song, Tauba Auerbach, Tiago Tebet, Ubi Bava, Verner Panton, Victor Vasarely, Waldemar Cordeiro, Wayne Gonzales, Xylor Jane, and Yayoi Kusama.
About the curator: Vik Muniz has prolific, multifaceted and permanently evolving work. His works can be found in important public collections such as Tate Modern and Victoria & Albert Museum in London; the Getty Institute in Los Angeles; and the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) of São Paulo, among others. He has done solo shows in P.S.1 MoMA, the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, São Paulo Art Museum (MASP), Seattle Art Museum, Miami Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro, Whitney Museum of American Art, International Center of Photography, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. In 2008, Vik was the first Brazilian to be invited by MoMA to be the curator of Artist’s Choice, a series of exhibitions in which an artist serves as curator, selecting works from the museum’s vast collection to create an exhibition.
Roesler Hotel: Idealized in 2006, the project began as an expanded network, an opportunity to invite artists and curators to develop projects and showcase their works. Up to now, there have been twenty editions, among them, Lo bueno y lo malo (2012), curated by Patrick Charpenel, director of Jumex Foundation, Otras Floras (2008), curated by José Roca, and solo shows by Paul Ramirez Jonas (2011), Sutapa Biswas (2008), Rosário Lopez Parra (2008) as well as many others. With the expansion of Galeria Nara Roesler, Roesler Hotel has taken a new facet by becoming a permanent program, running parallel to the gallery in which renowned agents in the contemporary art scene are invited to collaborate.
