PEDRO WIRZ

PEDRO WIRZ
selected works
2011 - 2016
“(...)he would wake up early every day,
only to do the Quiquiria.”
Glasgow (UK), September 2016
© Max Slaven
IRMÃO DOS HOMENS TODOS
Two-person exhibition together with
Mauro Cerqueria at David Dale Gallery
everybody know that our cities are made to be destroyed, 2016
soil, humus, human junk
dimensions variable
Recado / Message, 2016
acrilic paint on plaster cast
±2 cm ratio
Basel (CH), June 2016
© Pedro Wirz
OVO POR OLHO
Solo exhibition at
Unsere Umwelt gallery and HAUS #99
on the left:
Ovo por Olho (Caseber) / An Egg for an Eye (Hovel) , 2016
fabric, plaster, mud, silicon, pigment
30 x 25 cm
on the right:
Ovo por Olho / An Egg for an Eye, 2016
balloon, fabric, latex,
30 x 25 cm
on the left:
Ovo por Olho (Killian) / An Egg for an Eye (Killian), 2016
balloon, latex, textile, branches
35 x 27 cm
on the right:
Ovo por Olho (Azul) / An Egg for an Eye (Blue), 2016
balloon, latex, palm fiber, silicon
27 x 24 cm
on the right:
Ovo por Olho (Amarelo) / An Egg for an Eye (Yelllow), 2016
balloon, latex, textile
35 x 27 cm
on the left:
Ovo por Olho (Roxo) / An Egg for an Eye (Purple), 2016
balloon, latex, palm fiber, silicon, acrylic paint
35 x 27 cm
New York City (USA), April 2016
© Alex Kern
THE HORSE WHO DRUNK BEER
Solo exhibition at
Kai Matsumiya Gallery
„For the past year, Wirz has focused on decoding oral traditions,
mythologies, and legends native to Pindamonhangaba, Brazil, an area
in the Paraiba Valley intimately familiar to the peripatetic Swiss-Brazilian
artist. In doing so, the artist investigates how myths and legends as told
and internalized by individuals and societies often become determining
to the point of arriving as self-fulfilled prophecies.
The region has continually experienced massive demographic,
population, cultural, political, and economic shifts as royalty, slaves, indigenous people, merchantmen, and industrialists have intersected
and collided across the shifting primordial, modern, and contemporary
landscapes. In his observations of these movements, Wirz emphasizes
collaborations among social worlds, explorations of collectiveness shared through reverence for intuitive laughter, and the materializations of
myths and legends of dying cultures and places.
Traditions can be invented or imagined, reflect a mode of mass resistance, or even be sourced from pre- modern communities as they are mechanized by the myth-making complex. The fruitful abundance of fantastic characters and magical phenomena from the Paraiba, Wirz says, are
created from and passed on by a ubiquitous collective consciousness as
it intersects with rich and varied histories that experienced transformative fluctuating conditions. In one sense myths are real or become real
revealing an admixture of elite interests or spirited opposition from the
volk.
Wirz has created sculptures and wall works for his installation that
serve as a motivation for the viewer in considering the complex interplay among the real, unreal, magical, and enchanted—areas which may
be perceived to be losing salience within our contemporary society, yet
which are always operating under evolving symbolic manifestations.
To view the works as being “anti-technological” would be inaccurate,
as technology itself becomes part of the mythos sourced from dreams
and imaginations, and the perceptions thereof. In the sculptures by Wirz,
found materials in nature are manipulated with artificial substances. Surfaces of tree barks are texturized with coats of latex and acrylic paint
generating a moment when the abstract provides a path, and where one
thing becomes another.
The bark from a tree becomes an alligator or the remnants of taxidermy; limes resemble objects on fire. Imagined insects, arachnids, reptiles, crustaceans, etc. line the insides of light-boxes made from silicon
coated with thick latex, and placed upon a bed of epoxy resin which
results in an amber-like texture.“
on the left:
Pele Fria (Bicheira) / Cold Skin (Screwworm), 2016
tree bark, latex, cast plaster, silicon, acrylic paint,
wood, wire, plexiglass
100 x 70 x 5 cm
on the right:
Pele Fria (Bicheira), 2016
detail
on the right:
Pele Fria / Col Skin, 2016
Tree bark, latex, acrylic paint
85 x 45 cm
on the left:
Pele Fria / Cold Skin, 2016
Tree bark, latex, acrylic paint
45 x 70 cm
on the left:
Installation view
on the right:
Pele Fria (Dona Renata - detail) / Cold Skin (Mrs. Renata), 2016
Tree bark, latex, acrylic paint
180 x 25 cm
on the right:
Nascente Seca / Dry Spring I, II and III
silicone cast, latex, epoxy resin, light bulb, rusty iron frame
100 x 70 x 70 cm and 35 x 35 x 40 cm
on the left:
Nascente Seca I - interior view detail
Cama de Gato / Cat‘s Cradle, 2016
aluminium cast, wohl thread
80 x 25 x 40 cm
São Paulo (BR), permanent installation
© Pedro Wirz
VIGILIA
Vertical Garden at
Elevado Presidente Costa e Silva (Minhocão)
Vigília / Vigil, 2016
(plants) Barba-de-serpente, Cóleus, Lutiela
4650 x 1300 cm
Basel (CH), February 2016
© Alex Kern
VIGILIA
Tinguely Museum
Vigília / Vigil (from January to December and full moon), 2016
cast silicone, mixed media
600 x 300 cm
on the left:
Vigília de Maio / May‘s Vigil, 2016
cast colored silicone, ground dust
70 x 50 x 25 cm
on the right:
Vigília de Agosto / August‘s Vigil, 2016
cast colored silicone
60 x 60 x 4 cm
on the right:
Vígila de Julho / July‘s Vigil, 2016
cast colored silicone, goat hair
60 x 45 x 9 cm
on the left:
Vigíla de Lua cheia / Full Moon‘s Vigil, 2016 and Perequê, 2015
Installation view on Tinguely Museum
Vígila de Junho / June‘s Vigil, 2016
cast colored silicone
65 x 55 x 3 cm;
Vígila de Setembro / September‘s Vigil, 2016
cast colored silicone
60 x 55 x 15 cm
Relicário / Shrine, 2015
wood, colored silicon, wire, paint
40 x 20 x 25 cm
next page:
Quiquiria, 2015
plaster, wire, ruber, acrilic paint , Rhododendron petals / 60 x 40 x 35 cm
Perna Suada (Orazio) / Sweaty Leg (Orazio), 2015
fabric, latex, bells, nylon thread
80 x 30 x 25 cm
Perna Suada (Ratulfo) / Sweaty Leg (Ratulfo), 2015
fabric, latex, concrete stone, wire
80 x 40 x 25 cm
Basel (CH), June 2015
© Alex Kern
PEREQUÊ
Swiss Art Awards
Perequê, 2015
blind-cast colored plaster, clay
variable dimensions
Perequê, 2015
blind-cast colored plaster, clay
variable dimensions
São Paulo (BR), November 2013
© Samuel Esteves
NEW FRIENDS
Solo exhibition at Gabinete do
Desenho de São Paulo
IMAGINED SCULPTURES
(from the series HOW TO LOSE CONTROL), 2013
glazed ceramic
dimensions variable
Bagre / Catfish, 2013
PVC pipes, steel wire,
110 x 40 x 90 cm
Trilobites, 2013
stones, plastic fried eggs,
10 x 50 x 60 cm
Orelhas / Ears, 2013
glazed ceramic, nylon line, iron wire, boulders,
ca. 3 x 10 x 20 cm
Mauro, 2013
cow dung, wood glue, cow teeth,
60 x 40 x 40 cm
IMAGINED SCULPTURE (Paul Evk), 2013
from the series HOW TO LOSE CONTROL
glazed ceramic, ca. 40 x 17 x 5 cm
Clockwise from right:
IMAGINED SCULPTURE (Paul Evk), glazed ceramic, 40 x 17 x 5 cm
TONI: leather gloves, dry grass, 20 x 50 x 65 cm; MMOO: Monstera Deliciosa
fruits, epoxy resin; JONATAS: branch of guava, black rubber, intravenous
rubber tubing, plastic, ca. 25 x 10 x 1 cm. All 2013.
São Paulo (BR), August 2013
© Samuel Esteves and Edouard Fraipont
GRINGO
Solo exhibition at
Mendes Wood DM Gallery
Installation view
from left to right: Kissen Monster / Cushion Monster, Felt, 53 x 53 x 27 cm; Der Baum / The Tree,
Wire and electrical wires 41 x 25 x 7 cm; Reiter / Horseman, 2013, white and black marble,
50 x 38 x 2 cm. All 2013.
Example of the TFSMG, used to draw sculptures,
in collaboration with children, visitors of
Job Fair Zurich (Berufsmesse Zürich), 2011
All sculptures were originally drawn
using „The Fantastic Sculpture Maker
Grid” (TFSMG) sheet, by visitors of
the Job Fair Zurich.
Clockwise from this left:
Blumenvase / Flower Vase, travertine
marble, 151 x 105 x 2 cm; The Play,
Radica wood veneer on wood, 62 x
56 x 3 cm; Fantasieskulptur / Fantasy
sculpture, Ubatuba marbel, 39 x 39 x 2
cm; Der Man Mit Dem Komischer Kopf
/ The Man With The Comic Head, Copper wire, 23 x 10,5 cm; Smiley, Blue
silicone, 24 x 22 cm; Proto, Tostines
crackers, epoxy resin, 70 x 12,5 x 12,5
cm; Die Skulptur Die Keine Name Trägt
/ The Sculpture with No Name, Iron,
191 x 179 x 67 cm.
All 2013.
Basel (CH), September 2011
© Christian Knorr
HANDMADE
Final degree exhibition
FHNW Basel
All sculptures from the series HANDMADE, 2011,
polymer clay sculptures, ca. 25 x 25 x 20 cm
In a joint effort with my parents, I determined rules to create a set of clay
sculptures. Each person was assigned a colour and given 15 minutes to create
a single work, that was subsequenlty further developed by the next person.
Basel (CH), June 2011
© Yohan Zerdoun
SCULPTURE EXQUISE
Group exhitibion at
Kunsthalle Basel
From the series SCULPTURE EXQUISE, 2011 (installation view)
(from left to right) PHILIPP, KAROLINA and TOBIAS, 2011
pine wood, varnish. 200 x 25 x 20 cm (each)
Pedro Wirz
* 1981 in São Paulo - BR
Education
2007 - 2011 Bachelor’s degree at FHNW Basel - CH
Institute of Arts - Class of Jürg Stäuble,
Dr. Roman Kurzmeyer and Muda Mathis
2009 - 2010 Erasmus at the Staatliche Akademie
der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart - D
Institute of Arts - Class of Birgit Brenner and
of Christian Jankowski and Rainer Gahnal
2004 - 2006 Internship as assistant of
photography - BR and CH
1999 - 2003 Bachelors’ degree at University of Taubaté - BR
Institut of Communication - Public Relations
Solo and two-person exhibitions
2017(upcoming) at Tomie Ohtake Institut, São Paulo - BR
2016
Irmão dos Homens Todos at David Dale Gallery, Glasgow - UK (together with Mauro Cerqueira)
Ovo por Olho, Unsere Umwelt Gallery, Basel - CH
The Horse Who Drunk Beer, Kai Matsumiya Gallery,
New York - US
2013
Novos Amigos, CCSP, São Paulo - BR
Gringo, Mendes & Wood DM, SP - BR
Tropical, Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund - D
2012
Not the New, Not the Old, But the Necessary,
Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Stuttgart - D
Hotel Palenque at Gasconade, Milano - IT
(Swiss Institute‘s Bureau for Art Nerds)
Problems - Kunstraum Kreuzligen, Kreuzligen - CH
(together with Raphael Linsi)
2011
Backwall Projeckt - Kunsthalle Basel, Basel - CH
Outsiders - SALTS, Birsfelden - CH
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Deuxpiece, Basel - CH
Group exhibitions
2016
(upcoming) NADA Miami - US
CODE art Fair, Copenhagen - DK
Haus #99, Basel - CH
Dead Among The Dead!, EllisKing Gallery, Dublin - IE
Prière de Toucher, Tinguely Museum, Basel - CH
2015
Courtesy of SALTS, SALTS, Birsfelden - CH
NADA Miami - Kai Matsumiya Gallery, Miami - US
Tableau - Kai Matsumiya Gallery, New York City - US
FULL HOUSE - Shanaynay, Paris - FR
Swiss Art Awards, Basel - CH
Art Môtiers 2015 - Art en plein air, Môtiers - CH
Moves and Countermoves, CCS Bard Hessel
Museum of Art - US
Jac Leirner, Albert Baronian Gallery, Brussels - BE
Nimm‘s mal easy - Ausstellungsraum Klingental,
Basel - CH
2014 Screening (with Sonia Kacem), Deuxpiece,
New York City - US
A two-dimensional surface without any articulation
is a dead experience - BeatTricks Gallery, Milano - IT
Union - Union Pacific Gallery, London - GB
Absence of the evil is the evil of absence - Residency
Unlimited, New York City - US
Tell Me What I See, When I Look Into Your Eyes,
BolteLang, Zürich - CH
2013
Come, all ye faithful! - Florian Christopher, Zürich - CH
Give me Shelter - GGG Atelierhaus, Basel - CH
Mitologias por procuração - MAM-SP, São Paulo - BR
Wet-on-Wet, Gallery Florian Weingrüll, Karlsruhe - D
Swiss Art Awards, Basel - CH
Club des Sous l‘Eau - Palais de Tokyo, Paris - FR
The Sunday Curators - SWG1 Gallery - Glasgow - UK
THE BODY IS THE MEDIUM - Curatorial Lab SP-ARTE, São Paulo - BR
2012
Les Urbaines Art Festival - Lausanne - CH
LOT - Cul de Sac, London - GB
Post Studio Tales - Artist in Residence, Berlin - D
Platform 12 - Kunstwollen, Zurich - CH
If I had eight hours to chop down a tree,
I’d spend six sharpening my axe Kunstraum Riehen, Riehen - CH
2011 Mitologias I Mythologies - Cité des Arts, Paris - F
Cantonale Berne Jura - Kunsthalle Bern, Bern - CH
Cantonale Berne Jura - Stadtgalerie Bern, Bern - CH
Regionale 12 - Kunstraum L6, Freiburg - D
How to Work (more for) Less - Kunsthalle Basel,
Basel - CH
Floor Wall Piece - Von Bartha Garage, Basel - CH
Swiss Art Awards (Kiefer Hablitzel), Basel - CH
7, Kunstverein Duisburg, Duisburg - D
2010 Regionale 11: Village Cry - Kunsthalle Basel,
Basel - CH
Rundgang 2010 - Staatliche Akademie der
Bildenden Künste, Stuttgart - D
Blokkade - Universal Cube, Leipzig - D
1. Salão dos Artistas Sem Galeria, São Paulo - BR
2009 Regionale 10 - Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg - D 2008 The line is a lonely hunter - New Jerseyy, Basel - CH
Awards / Scholarship
2016
Artist in Redindece - Swiss Institute Rome, Rome - IT
2014
Artist in Residence - IAAB Exchange Program
Residency Unlimited, New York - US
2012
Werkbeitrag - Kunstkredit der Stadt Basel,
Basel - CH
Artist in Residence - Post Studio Tales, Berlin - D
Peter-Hans-Hofschneider-Prize
Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart - D
2011
Artist in Residence - IAAB Exchange Program
Cité des Arts, Paris - F
GGG Atelierhaus - 2 years subsidized atelier by
GGG Basel Foundation
2010
1st prize for publication on contemporary art
Biennial Foundation, São Paulo - BR
1st prize for brazilian artist exhibiting abroad
Biennial Foundation, São Paulo - BR
Patronage for young swiss artists - Kunsthalle Basel,
Basel - CH
Curatorial Projects
2016
PANORAMA BOA VISTA, Porto - PT
(with Raphael Linsi)
2014 - on going Postcodes (with Gabriel Lima)
Kind - Coletor, São Paulo - BR
Soft - Casa do Povo, São Paulo - BR
www.postcodes.com.br
2013
Wet-on-Wet - Gallery Weingrüll,
Karlsruhe - D
2012
the work found me
Gallery Samy Abraham, Paris - F
2011
If I had eight hours to chop down a tree,
I’d spend six sharpening my axe Kunstraum Riehen, Riehen - CH
2009 - 2011
the forever ending story
(with Raphael Linsi, Claudio Vogt and
Tilmann Schlevogt)
www.theforeverendingstory.com
2009 - 2010
Deuxpiece
(with Noëmi Denzler)
www.deuxpiece.com
2008
Wirtshaus im Schalter
(with Raphael Linsi)
www.schalter.tk
2007Wirzhaus
(with Raphael Linsi und Luiz Albisser)
www.myspace.com/wirzhaust
www.pedrowirz.com / [email protected]