Adriano Amaral at Witte de With / Rotterdam

Adriano Amaral / new work
curated by Julia Mullié

January 19 - April 19, 2020

Witte de With
Witte de Withstraat 50, 3012 BR
Rotterdam

 Installation view, 2020

 Installation view, 2020


Untitled, 2020 
Aluminium structure, motor, motion sensor, electric cables, fragmented screens, rigid foam, found clothes, acrylic tubes, silicone, prosthetic rubber, prints, seeds, ants, seashells, reflective glass beads, roots

Untitled, 2020 
Aluminium, rigid foam, prosthetic rubber, pigments, seeds, fragmented screens, seashells and mixed media on artist frame

Untitled, 2020 
Aluminium, rigid foam, prosthetic rubber, pigments, seeds, prints, fragmented screens, ants and mixed media on artist frame

Untitled, 2020 
Aluminium structure, motor, motion sensor, electric cables, fragmented screens, rigid foam, found clothes, acrylic tubes, silicone, prosthetic rubber, prints, seeds, ants, seashells, reflective glass beads, roots

Untitled, 2020 (detail) 
Cast aluminium fish fossils, fragmented screens, seeds

Untitled, 2020 
Aluminium, rigid foam, prosthetic rubber, pigments, seeds and mixed media on artist frame

Untitled, 2020 
Aluminium, rigid foam, prosthetic rubber, pigments, seeds and mixed media on artist frame
  
Untitled, 2020 
Aluminium structure, motor, motion sensor, electric cables, fragmented screens, rigid foam, acrylic tubes and rod, silicone, prosthetic rubber, prints, seeds, ants, seashells, reflective glass beads, roots, raw sheepskin

Untitled, 2020 (detail) 
Aluminium structure, motor, motion sensor, electric cables, fragmented screens, rigid foam, acrylic tubes and rod, silicone, prosthetic rubber, prints, seeds, ants, seashells, reflective glass beads, roots, raw sheepskin

Untitled, 2020 
Aluminium, rigid foam, prosthetic rubber, pigments, seeds, prints, fragmented screens, ants, fish fossil and mixed media on artist frame

 Installation view, 2020


Untitled, 2020 (detail) 
Aluminium structure, motor, motion sensor, electric cables, fragmented screens, rigid foam, acrilic tubes and rod, silicone, prosthetic rubber, prints, seeds, ants, seashells, reflective glass beads, roots, raw sheepskin

Untitled, 2020 
Aluminium, rigid foam, prosthetic rubber, pigments, seeds, prints and mixed media on artist frame

Untitled, 2020 
Aluminium, rigid foam, prosthetic rubber, fragmented screens, pigments, seeds, prints and mixed media on artist frame

Untitled, 2020 
Aluminium structure, silicone, prosthetic rubber, pigeon spikes, found fishing rope, aluminium fish fossil, prints, seashells, car seat parts, reflective glass beads Floor: Peat compost, mineral oil

Untitled, 2020 (detail) 
Aluminium structure, silicone, prosthetic rubber, pigeon spikes, found fishing rope, aluminium fish fossil, prints, seashells, car seat parts, reflective glass beads Floor: Peat compost, mineral oil

Untitled, 2020 (detail) 
Acoustic rigid foam, prosthetic rubber, silicone, pigeon spikes, aluminium fish fossils, metal structure, fragmented screens, disc brake, seeds

Platform: Found solar panels, wood structure 
Film: Untitled, 2020 - 4K three channels video installation, 17’54’’
  
Untitled, 2020 - Film still 
4K three channels video installation, 17’54’

Installation view, 2020

Untitled, 2020 
Hang Sculpture Garment: Chainmail armour, cast aluminium fIsh fossils, cables Platform: Found solar panels, peat compost soil, stainless steel tank, water, humidifiers, cast aluminium pots, liquid candles, seed

 Installation view, 2020

 Installation view, 2020

 Installation view, 2020

Photos: Kristien Daem and Jeroen Lavèn
Images courtesy of the artist and space

While the internet, prosthetics, solar panels, and touch screens can each be seen as ways of ‘upgrading’ human experience, a more elemental and subjective tendency seems to be gaining value again. Intuition, emotion, and imagination have become central tenets and, akin to the movement of Romanticism that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century, Enlightenment’s emphasis on a purely rational outlook is being called into question. Adriano Amaral investigates the place of materiality by creating environments in which natural and synthetic elements merge, forming hybrids between technology and mysticism.

With an intuitive approach towards materials, combining industrial and discarded personal objects, Amaral creates site-sensitive installations that model the exhibition space as an encompassing experience. In his response to existing architectural qualities, Amaral both subverts and transforms them. Although discussions about the relationship between the human and the artificial have intensified in the last couple of years, this relationship is nothing new. Humans are, and always have been, reshaped by the objects and technologies they create. In his work, Amaral accentuates this relationship by combining found materials, trying to find “the most natural way to extend objects synthetically.” By doing so, he investigates and tests the social and environmental implications of materials and their interactions, suggesting a flow of energy and movement between them.

The exhibition is curated by guest curator Julia Mullié and is a collaboration with Pivô in São Paulo, where the exhibition will open 30 May 2020.