We are pleased to announce “Quebrada”, a project by Alexandre da Cunha for the auroras’ swimming pool. The work consists of an assemblage of a series of colored awnings that project from the edge of the pool towards the interior, referring to the spatial composition of an impluvium[i], a small village, a street market, a piazza or a quebrada[ii].
Collecting is part of the artist’s practice. In recent years, a photographic archive of awnings has been formed and the observation of their formal qualities has instigated a pictorial interest. Indeed, they are color planes that stand out from the urban landscape. However, if these objects are often monochromatic or with elementary color compositions, the agency of time and the wear and tear of use give these coverings a special pictorial complexity.
There is a procedural dimension to the creation of the work that allows visitors to “redo it” on other occasions. That is, once the perception of these elements in the urban landscape is sharpened, the public creates its own image collection and selection, also becoming “owners of the work”, or rather, of the procedure, replicating it.
Added to this, another element of interest are the names of the establishments that are printed on the awnings. The “hot dog corner” next to the “office bar and snacks” proposes a neighborhood reconfiguration. The names point to stories lived or imagined in this displacement inherent to the work.
In the library, Alexandre da Cunha shows a work from his series of precast concrete rings and a polished brass element. Usually presented outdoors, the sculpture is shown here inside the house. The two works, therefore, have a logic of displacement: the awnings come from the city to the pool and the sculpture goes from the external environment to the carpeted floor.
[i] Impluvium is the Latin word for an architectural structure designed to capture rainwater. Roofs were designed to slope towards an inner courtyard, where water was collected. Different cultures used this system, from the Greco-Roman peoples to central and western regions of the African continent.
[ii] Term associated with neighborhoods located in urban outskirts.
