Cildo Meireles and the Boogey Man
Open at Sesc Pompeia until February 2, 2020, Entrevendo [something like “Glimpsing”] is Cildo Meireles’s first anthological exhibition in many years. How wonderful it is to find so much good stuff in the same place! Cildo’s works are good for the body, the soul, and the mind. You can visit with no concern: the boogey man living there doesn’t swallow people.
I have a vague recollection of Cildo Meireles’s last great exhibition in Brazil in 2000 at MAM São Paulo and MAM Rio. That was my first contact with Missão/Missões (Como construir catedrais) [Mission/Missions (How to Build Cathedrals)], a work that impressed me deeply and is, to this day, one of my favorites by this artist. When I heard Sesc Pompeia was producing an anthological exhibition with 150 works by Cildo, I felt immense joy. It was time to see once again works I had seen scattered through many different institutions and to see others I only knew by name, such as Entrevendo—conceived in 1970 but executed for the first time in 1994, which gives the title to the show organized by Sesc and curated by Júlia Rebouças and Diego Matos.
Cildo Meireles and Entrevendo (Photo: Wikimedia, Matías Rossi, MACBA, 2016).
Putting together an exhibition at Sesc Pompeia is challenging. The common area designed by Lina Bo Bardi is an anti-museum space. There remains the memory of the old manufacturing plant, a pool and a structure made of concrete that is used as library, lounge, and anything else one can imagine. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people go through this space every day. However, despite these great numbers, few realize the presence of this exhibition-devouring boogey man.
Some were able to chase away the boogey man, such as Jochen Voltz who created museum rooms for the Terra communal [Communal Land] exhibition devoted to Marina Abramovic’s works in 2015. The price he paid for his decision was annulling the area’s power, both spatial and human. Some made a deal with the boogey man, such as Tania Rivera in Lugares do delírio (Delirium Spots) in 2018 with 160 different works in perfect integration with the users’ activities. The curatorial team at Entrevendo chose a different path: to face the boogey man upfront.
Visitors to Entrevendo mingle with the crowds of people lining up for lunch, playing chess, or diving into a ball pit. This is a unique set of events offered by this space and—only because of it—a dream come true for an art curator who wishes to transform exhibition space into integrative space. But seeing that wishing is not the same as doing, Entrevendo was subject to the boogey man’s whims—it swallowed up a good portion of works displayed on the walls that surround the huge area.
What do we see beyond Entrevendo? Olvido (Forgetfulness, 1987-9), Eureka/ Blindhotland (1970-5), Missão/ Missões (Mission/Missions, 1987), Amerikkka (1991/ 2013), and Fio (Thread, 1990). Volume is the connecting element between these works that have imposing presences in the space. On the other hand, sound works, projects in the Arte física (Physical Art, 1969) series, and those in Malhas da liberdade (Freedom Weaves, 1976-7), as well as the three that are part of Condensados (Condensed, 1973), and even the Antes (Before, 1977/ 2003) installation ended up in the boogey man’s belly.
The boogey man swallows relationships as well. The text introducing the exhibition—which can be only glimpsed in such a busy space—does not detail the relationships between the works displayed but emphasizes underlying concepts to Cildo Meireles’s work that are mentioned in short notes displayed on the walls throughout the exhibition. Visitors with good memories, curious spirits, and aiming at seeing the exhibition in the way the curatorial team intends will have a hard task ahead.
Seeing that the imposing works are not subject to the boogey man’s whims, gaps are evident. Absence of that which could be there but is not is notable. In such a dramatic moment as this for Brazil and the world—making this exhibition so urgent—why can’t we see Ocasião (Occasion, 1974/ 2004), Babel (2001), or Abajur (Lamp, 1997/2010)?
However, not all works are at risk. Entrevendo also occupies the space at the Sesc Pompeia Barn, which was transformed into a neat, silent white cube. This is where we can find Cildo Meireles’s impressive graphic production, some among his most poetic objects, the Volátil (Volatile, 1980) installation, and many different woks in the Espaços virtuais: Cantos (Virtual Spaces: Corners, 1967-8) series, presented in re-editions from 2008 and 2013.
In this museum-like space, the power of these works is restored. Fragile Conhecer pode ser destruir (Knowing May Be Destroying) and A menor distância entre dois pontos é uma curva (The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is a Curve, both from 1976), which would be easy targets for the boogey man, are thankfully safe. Their power grows in this neuter, well-lit environment.
At an exhibition that demands from visitors firm purpose and resolve, it would have been a good strategy to gather, in a neutralized space, small works and projects—which are actually a considerable portion of the 150 pieces that compose Entrevendo. That strategy certainly would not have mitigated the absence of seminal works such as Árvore do dinheiro (Money Tree, 1969) and Inserção em circuitos ideológicos: Projeto Coca-Cola (Ideologic Circuits Insertion: Coca-Cola Project, 1970), but it would have helped visitors to understand the relationships between the works, something that the texts scattered through the exhibition spaces were not capable to do. In the same way, it would have been a generous attitude do bring together pieces with evident conceptual affinity—like the works from the Ocupações (Occupations, 1968-9) and Cantos.
It is clear that Sesc did not want Entrevendo to be a retrospective exhibition. Too bad. No other Brazilian institution could have done it now or in the next few years. The fact that Cildo is active is detached from our desire to get to know what he has been making for over fifty years and is still to make for many more years to come. Cildo Meireles is a giant. More than a retrospective, he deserves a prospective. His work must be showed in its integrity. Let it swallow the boogey man.
Entrevendo - Cildo Meireles
Where: Sesc Pompeia, rua Clélia, 93, Água Branca, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Bellow, some pictures, by Magnólia Costa.
Pictures 01 and 02: Missão/Missões (Como construir catedrais) [Mission/Missions (How to Build Cathedrals)], 1987/2019
Picture 03 and 04: Amerikkka, 1991/2013
Picture 05: Antes (Before), 1977/2003
Picture 06: Cildo Meireles and Entrevendo (Foto: Wikimedia, Matías Rossi, MACBA, 2016).
