release

 ANA PAULA OLIVEIRA PRESENTS A SOLO EXHIBITION AT
GALERIA MILLAN
Installation, sculptures, photos and videos comprise Ana Paula Oliveira’s new exhibition,
entited Ainda que te vi. By transporting live nymphs cultivated in the Pantanal region to
Galeria Millan, the artist explores the process of transforming materials and the tension
between natural elements and their systems of cultivation, recurrent studies throughout
her career.
In the installation, placed on top of large marble plaques suspended by steel cables, the
nymphs will hover above the visitors. Magnifying glasses encrusted in the marble serve
not only to bring the object closer optically, but also act as interfaces which allow
spectators to watch the spectacle of the cocoons hatching. Placed there, between the
visitors and the object, they filter and reassign meaning to this phenomenon, already in
constant transformation. The set of sculptures create a system in which everything is
controlled: from the height of the rocks to the degree of the lens and the time of
hatching. In this way, it opposes the natural process in which the caterpillar selects where
to settle and depends on conditions of heat and humidity to complete its cycle. This
constructed scenario does not imply, however, a lack of conflict. There is a latent tension
in the physical and temporal displacements proposed by the installation, in the expectation
of the climax of the nymphs’ metamorphosis and in the relationships that will emerge
between the recently-born butterflies flying around the galleries and the visitors to the
exhibition.
It is precisely in these conflicts that the key of the artist’s production lies, as the art critic
Rodrigo Naves commented: “the intelligence of the works consists precisely in placing
them in a situation that is foreign to their natural position and, as such, making them
more visible, potent and dangerous. And the interesting thing is that, with every new
work, Ana Paula succeeds in achieving various meanings, though her procedures do not
change radically.”
The show also presents a set of photos of hibernation boxes taken at the SESC Pantanal
butterfly vivarium, which highlight the architectural relationship between the structures of
the boxes and the nymphs, as well as mini-videos that show the exact moment in which
the cocoons hatch and the butterflies prepare to come out into the world.
SERVICE INFO
Ainda que te vi – a solo exhibition by Ana Paula Oliveira
Opening: Thursday, July 18, 2013, 8 – 11 p.m. Galeria Millan.
Visitation: July 19 – August 17, 2013, Tues – Fri, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Sat, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
PRESS CONTACT
Caroline Carrion: [email protected] / 55 11 3031 6007
Cristiane Komesu: [email protected] / 55 11 3031 6007
ABOUT ANA PAULA OLIVEIRA
(Uberaba/MG, 1969) In 1994, she enrolled in the Visual Arts program at FAAP. She
participated in her first group exhibition at MuBE in 1999. In 2001, she created the
experimentation space 10.20x3.60 with the artist collective Olho Seco. She participated in
the Project Season at Centro Cultural São Paulo and won the first revelation prize. Since
then, she has shown her work at several institutions including Centro Cultural São Paulo,
the Museum of Contemporary Art of Campinas, the Museum of Ribeirão Preto and Centro
Universitário Maria Antonia. Among her solo shows, some standouts include exhibits at
Galeria Virgílio in 2007 and 2009 and Beco do Pinto in São Paulo in 2012.