.
TO BE FREE AND ENTIRE
.
Olívio Tavares de Araújo
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“Liberty. For what does liberty serve if not to compromise oneself ?” This phrase of Simone de Beauvoir, read I don’t know when, I don’t know where and for whose litteral correction I don’t take responsibility, came to my mind before this exhibition of Sérgio Nunes. Without being a retrospective – this sometimes frightening examination forced upon from the outside in and for which he has not come of age – is, yes, a self-examination, a diacronic and critical view of fifteen years of production. Sérgio re-observes and re-thinks himself. And while re-observing and re-thinking him, together, by the force of and through his works I perceive above everything else the level of liberty he has conquered.
TO BE FREE AND ENTIRE
.
Olívio Tavares de Araújo
.
“Liberty. For what does liberty serve if not to compromise oneself ?” This phrase of Simone de Beauvoir, read I don’t know when, I don’t know where and for whose litteral correction I don’t take responsibility, came to my mind before this exhibition of Sérgio Nunes. Without being a retrospective – this sometimes frightening examination forced upon from the outside in and for which he has not come of age – is, yes, a self-examination, a diacronic and critical view of fifteen years of production. Sérgio re-observes and re-thinks himself. And while re-observing and re-thinking him, together, by the force of and through his works I perceive above everything else the level of liberty he has conquered.
.
Liberty assured in first place by a natural facility and complete domain over all visual-art techniques as I have seen few times till today. My dear Marcello Grassmann, whose graphic work equally seems to arise from a super-geniality and flow with the naturality of a spring, always insisted in telling me: “I never had ease in drawing. I had passion, which is very different.” Very well then, Sérgio Nunes can boast on having had both and having well-founded and enriched them with a continuous and intense effort, not only on a technical and workmanship level but also intelectually. Once again I have rarely seen in an artist of this generation the same general and specific culture, the same humanistic conciousness and the same capacity to articulate a personal project.
Liberty assured in first place by a natural facility and complete domain over all visual-art techniques as I have seen few times till today. My dear Marcello Grassmann, whose graphic work equally seems to arise from a super-geniality and flow with the naturality of a spring, always insisted in telling me: “I never had ease in drawing. I had passion, which is very different.” Very well then, Sérgio Nunes can boast on having had both and having well-founded and enriched them with a continuous and intense effort, not only on a technical and workmanship level but also intelectually. Once again I have rarely seen in an artist of this generation the same general and specific culture, the same humanistic conciousness and the same capacity to articulate a personal project.
.
Liberty secured even more through conciliation in a personal manner (and apparently natural and spontaneous) between two vertents of contemporary art that habitually are polarized as opposites, figurativism and abstraction. Sérgio Nunes’ generation, in Minas Gerais, was caracterized through an abstract language of caligraphic character, limpid, equilibrated and elegant, the synthesis between the sober cast of Amilcar de Castro’s gesture – a seminal influence during the 70’s – and the more savage and expressionistic abstractivism, of german ascendancy, that thrived internationally, during that period, and occurred, for example, in Rio, within the works of Jorginho Guinle. In the 80’s, when I encountered it, the visible production of Sérgio Nunes was cousin to the works of Jimmy Leroy, which in turn was cousin to those of Giovanna Martins, cousin to those of Isaura Pena and so forth – and all of them, even refinedly, were informal abstractionists.
Liberty secured even more through conciliation in a personal manner (and apparently natural and spontaneous) between two vertents of contemporary art that habitually are polarized as opposites, figurativism and abstraction. Sérgio Nunes’ generation, in Minas Gerais, was caracterized through an abstract language of caligraphic character, limpid, equilibrated and elegant, the synthesis between the sober cast of Amilcar de Castro’s gesture – a seminal influence during the 70’s – and the more savage and expressionistic abstractivism, of german ascendancy, that thrived internationally, during that period, and occurred, for example, in Rio, within the works of Jorginho Guinle. In the 80’s, when I encountered it, the visible production of Sérgio Nunes was cousin to the works of Jimmy Leroy, which in turn was cousin to those of Giovanna Martins, cousin to those of Isaura Pena and so forth – and all of them, even refinedly, were informal abstractionists.
.
But the truth is that the abstract language never used-up the expressive necessities (nor intelectual) of Sérgio Nunes. Simultaneously with the production that most appeared, in the 80’s, he always produced figurative works, sometimes with painstaking realism. For example, in this exhibition, a small, precious pencil drawing Untitled of 1989, showing two naked bodies of women, one with her head, the other with her feet towards the observer. If we think that it is of the same year as Annotations in Blue – with which Sérgio participated, in Brasília, of the show New Values of Latin American Art – and the objects Untitled, Junk and Untitled (for Fulcanelli), we have an idea of the latitude of his interests and of his opening of horizons.
But the truth is that the abstract language never used-up the expressive necessities (nor intelectual) of Sérgio Nunes. Simultaneously with the production that most appeared, in the 80’s, he always produced figurative works, sometimes with painstaking realism. For example, in this exhibition, a small, precious pencil drawing Untitled of 1989, showing two naked bodies of women, one with her head, the other with her feet towards the observer. If we think that it is of the same year as Annotations in Blue – with which Sérgio participated, in Brasília, of the show New Values of Latin American Art – and the objects Untitled, Junk and Untitled (for Fulcanelli), we have an idea of the latitude of his interests and of his opening of horizons.
.
In an artist with a less theoretical and practical base all of this could be considered indecision – or worse yet, a miscomprehension of his own work and of the universe that he wants to express through it. In Sérgio Nunes I am sure that it is exactly the manifestation of liberty that rises from competence. I don’t want to startle anyone or make delirious comparisons – but this is what Picasso also always did, changing his style everytime he changed women. There are apollonian artists, such as Albers and Ianelli, who upon defining the scope of their work as a whole, grasp on to it with discipline and unfold it within the possible infinity. There are the dyonisians, as Pollock and Iberê Camargo, who release anguishes and demons with each brushstroke; and there are the proteans, such as Picasso and Klee who do not care about being one thing or another. This is the case of Sérgio Nunes and yet still, also in Brazil, of this admirable Siron Franco, who always invents and takes risks with each work, and succeeds and errs because he is a person and not a god.
In an artist with a less theoretical and practical base all of this could be considered indecision – or worse yet, a miscomprehension of his own work and of the universe that he wants to express through it. In Sérgio Nunes I am sure that it is exactly the manifestation of liberty that rises from competence. I don’t want to startle anyone or make delirious comparisons – but this is what Picasso also always did, changing his style everytime he changed women. There are apollonian artists, such as Albers and Ianelli, who upon defining the scope of their work as a whole, grasp on to it with discipline and unfold it within the possible infinity. There are the dyonisians, as Pollock and Iberê Camargo, who release anguishes and demons with each brushstroke; and there are the proteans, such as Picasso and Klee who do not care about being one thing or another. This is the case of Sérgio Nunes and yet still, also in Brazil, of this admirable Siron Franco, who always invents and takes risks with each work, and succeeds and errs because he is a person and not a god.
.
The necessity of the figure confirms upon Sérgio Nunes a duchampian view (et pour cause: Marcel Duchamp is one of his numina) of the dichotomy between figure and abstraction. Within this, abstract painting, granddaughter of Impressionism, would be, in a manner of speaking, retinal, sensorial, sensualistic, ill-fitted to transmit reflection. Disagreeing somewhat, I believe that the evolution of abstraction in the twentieth century broadened it’s horizons, and it became capable of suscitating (and, therefore, to have transmitted) reflection; but it is true that the mineira* abstraction of Sérgios’ generation, as an example, was not of this lineage – and he, on the contrary, is an artist who reflects and desires to stimulate reflection with his work, about itself, it’s supports, faculties and limits, about language and about the world as a whole, understood through a determined Weltanschauung. Besides this, even though he himself may not have perceived it, it is certain that for such a naturally gifted artist to rely on the bounds of a caligraphic abstraction can cause a sensation of self-favouring and redundance. Paradoxally, the figure ends-up encompassing more challenges (I am not talking about technique) and acts at the same time as an incitement and as an anchor.
The necessity of the figure confirms upon Sérgio Nunes a duchampian view (et pour cause: Marcel Duchamp is one of his numina) of the dichotomy between figure and abstraction. Within this, abstract painting, granddaughter of Impressionism, would be, in a manner of speaking, retinal, sensorial, sensualistic, ill-fitted to transmit reflection. Disagreeing somewhat, I believe that the evolution of abstraction in the twentieth century broadened it’s horizons, and it became capable of suscitating (and, therefore, to have transmitted) reflection; but it is true that the mineira* abstraction of Sérgios’ generation, as an example, was not of this lineage – and he, on the contrary, is an artist who reflects and desires to stimulate reflection with his work, about itself, it’s supports, faculties and limits, about language and about the world as a whole, understood through a determined Weltanschauung. Besides this, even though he himself may not have perceived it, it is certain that for such a naturally gifted artist to rely on the bounds of a caligraphic abstraction can cause a sensation of self-favouring and redundance. Paradoxally, the figure ends-up encompassing more challenges (I am not talking about technique) and acts at the same time as an incitement and as an anchor.
.
The synthesis of Sérgio Nunes has clearly defined itself over these last five years. The title Annotations, that could indistinctly be applied to all of these works, describes the nature and form of this synthesis. Figure and abstract sign never work as simple background for each other, nor as mere ornament. They are distinct moments of the act of perceiving, feeling, thinking and doing, registered successionally on the work surface. It conserves, during the creative act, an aesthetic and onthological character of permanent work in progress , on which layers of experiences overlap and aglutinate.
The synthesis of Sérgio Nunes has clearly defined itself over these last five years. The title Annotations, that could indistinctly be applied to all of these works, describes the nature and form of this synthesis. Figure and abstract sign never work as simple background for each other, nor as mere ornament. They are distinct moments of the act of perceiving, feeling, thinking and doing, registered successionally on the work surface. It conserves, during the creative act, an aesthetic and onthological character of permanent work in progress , on which layers of experiences overlap and aglutinate.
.
As such, the precise drawing of a face, for example, can have the same plastic function and the same meaning as a simple word scribbled in a corner – no less important. Word and gesture aquire multiple functions. They can be, as in the cubist’s papiers collés, an additional element constructing the space and accentuating and clearly showing the autonomy of the pictorial plane. They can be of symbolic function or of poetic ignition: here, the term wind, over there, afternoon, yonder, the names of a few months or, enigmatical, words in french: Versailles, Vauxcelles, Avoir, Blanc. They can be personal work instructions as if accidentally perpetuated (“draw the arm with cross-hatched lines”, on the pencil drawing Untitled, already mentioned), or, at last, intensifications of the graphic-fact moment and, who knows, of the memory of the generating event. (See Points of Contact, of 1991/92, where it is noted: “points of contact: chin, finger tips, palms” . Of course, on the other hand (and as a good poetry reader Sérgio knows this), there is, of course, a semi-parallel verbal discussion, but not because of this less plastic, less legitimate or less integrated in the painting, which it only enriches.
As such, the precise drawing of a face, for example, can have the same plastic function and the same meaning as a simple word scribbled in a corner – no less important. Word and gesture aquire multiple functions. They can be, as in the cubist’s papiers collés, an additional element constructing the space and accentuating and clearly showing the autonomy of the pictorial plane. They can be of symbolic function or of poetic ignition: here, the term wind, over there, afternoon, yonder, the names of a few months or, enigmatical, words in french: Versailles, Vauxcelles, Avoir, Blanc. They can be personal work instructions as if accidentally perpetuated (“draw the arm with cross-hatched lines”, on the pencil drawing Untitled, already mentioned), or, at last, intensifications of the graphic-fact moment and, who knows, of the memory of the generating event. (See Points of Contact, of 1991/92, where it is noted: “points of contact: chin, finger tips, palms” . Of course, on the other hand (and as a good poetry reader Sérgio knows this), there is, of course, a semi-parallel verbal discussion, but not because of this less plastic, less legitimate or less integrated in the painting, which it only enriches.
.
It is time for us to return to Simone de Beauvoir. Why, at this moment of liberty of the artist Sérgio Nunes, carried out and exposed with such visible pleasure for him and for us, it occured to me that frase of the french philosopher? Because, not less visible, it seems to me that together with liberty comes also, now, here, in this exhibition, in this priveleged moment – that coincides, in Sérgio’s personal life, with the begining of maturity – a taking of stance. Therefore, a commitment. He liberated himself to engage himself, as in Simone’s proposal. It is not obviously a political engagement, at least not in the sense that these words are habitually associated. (By the way, little if not any “political art” was made in Brazil; the most engaged , amongst us, are artists such as Iberê Camargo, Flávio Shiró and Farnese de Andrade, whose cause is broader, of the species, of human contingency). The clear compromise of Sérgio Nunes, in my view, is of another and double nature.
It is time for us to return to Simone de Beauvoir. Why, at this moment of liberty of the artist Sérgio Nunes, carried out and exposed with such visible pleasure for him and for us, it occured to me that frase of the french philosopher? Because, not less visible, it seems to me that together with liberty comes also, now, here, in this exhibition, in this priveleged moment – that coincides, in Sérgio’s personal life, with the begining of maturity – a taking of stance. Therefore, a commitment. He liberated himself to engage himself, as in Simone’s proposal. It is not obviously a political engagement, at least not in the sense that these words are habitually associated. (By the way, little if not any “political art” was made in Brazil; the most engaged , amongst us, are artists such as Iberê Camargo, Flávio Shiró and Farnese de Andrade, whose cause is broader, of the species, of human contingency). The clear compromise of Sérgio Nunes, in my view, is of another and double nature.
.
First of all, with an artform that inscribes itself into the historicalness of the twentieth century and does not disown it. When, for example, he writes to me in a letter that he intends to make of his work “a reflection about the nature of language”, Sérgio is not, as is in fashion, doubting the competence of the latter. Much is said today about the “problematization” of art, in questionings, as if only doubt was the path to truth – but let us not forget that there is also that of revelation, with all its variants, including intuitve knowledge –, as if only a half-negating posture meant contemporarity**. It is not that the world at the end of this century and millenium provides us with more certainties than doubts – but it is to situate them and circumscribe them that art exists, not to recoil before them in a supplementary impasse.
First of all, with an artform that inscribes itself into the historicalness of the twentieth century and does not disown it. When, for example, he writes to me in a letter that he intends to make of his work “a reflection about the nature of language”, Sérgio is not, as is in fashion, doubting the competence of the latter. Much is said today about the “problematization” of art, in questionings, as if only doubt was the path to truth – but let us not forget that there is also that of revelation, with all its variants, including intuitve knowledge –, as if only a half-negating posture meant contemporarity**. It is not that the world at the end of this century and millenium provides us with more certainties than doubts – but it is to situate them and circumscribe them that art exists, not to recoil before them in a supplementary impasse.
.
Sérgio Nunes’ art is, as such, a free art that compromised itself with art. I remember here, en passant, two verses of Drummond, something as : “I am tired of being modern; now I want to be eternal”. Without the same sonorous pretention (although being admissible in Drummond), Sérgio Nunes self-proposes to make something permanent and convincingly inscribed in the historical course. Duchamp’s name was cited in this text, various others could also have been cited, from Cy Twombly (another tutelary numen) to Morandi. The primatical question placed by Morandi’s painting – about silent dialogue between form and color, which are known to be dependent, installed in the pictorial matter – is permanent, inexhaustive. It is also primatical for Sérgio Nunes. In all honesty, I don’t know if, in specific terms of language, of the managing of expressive signs, this exhibition establishes it’s definite parameters. He can change them. And yet he defines them whilst posture as a man and as an artist: not to renegate, not to flee, not to veer, not to hide his head in the sand or block-out the sun with a sift. And, yes, to do, to construct. Étienne Souriau beautifully says that art is “the founding activity”. As such Sérgio understands it, as such he embraces it.
Sérgio Nunes’ art is, as such, a free art that compromised itself with art. I remember here, en passant, two verses of Drummond, something as : “I am tired of being modern; now I want to be eternal”. Without the same sonorous pretention (although being admissible in Drummond), Sérgio Nunes self-proposes to make something permanent and convincingly inscribed in the historical course. Duchamp’s name was cited in this text, various others could also have been cited, from Cy Twombly (another tutelary numen) to Morandi. The primatical question placed by Morandi’s painting – about silent dialogue between form and color, which are known to be dependent, installed in the pictorial matter – is permanent, inexhaustive. It is also primatical for Sérgio Nunes. In all honesty, I don’t know if, in specific terms of language, of the managing of expressive signs, this exhibition establishes it’s definite parameters. He can change them. And yet he defines them whilst posture as a man and as an artist: not to renegate, not to flee, not to veer, not to hide his head in the sand or block-out the sun with a sift. And, yes, to do, to construct. Étienne Souriau beautifully says that art is “the founding activity”. As such Sérgio understands it, as such he embraces it.
.
His second obligation is with himself. Of this I will say very little, because there will be, at the end of the text, he who will speak much better. I feel in this moment of Sérgio Nunes the reafirmation of his integrity, of his urge to be himself, of being an artist, to not let himself be seduced by parallel activities, to not want to appear as this or that (nor “modern”as I have said), to only owe satisfaction to himself – and to his art. I see that he, a lover, as I am , of the wise odes of Ricardo Reis, of which we sometimes exchange in a letter, has been listening to the voice of the poet:
.
“To be grand, be whole: nothing
His second obligation is with himself. Of this I will say very little, because there will be, at the end of the text, he who will speak much better. I feel in this moment of Sérgio Nunes the reafirmation of his integrity, of his urge to be himself, of being an artist, to not let himself be seduced by parallel activities, to not want to appear as this or that (nor “modern”as I have said), to only owe satisfaction to himself – and to his art. I see that he, a lover, as I am , of the wise odes of Ricardo Reis, of which we sometimes exchange in a letter, has been listening to the voice of the poet:
.
“To be grand, be whole: nothing
..... Of yours exagerates or excludes.
Be all in each thing. Put as much as you are
......In the minimum you do.
Thus in each lake the whole moon
......Shines, because high she lives.”
.
São Paulo, October, 1995.
.
*TN: being from the brazilian state of Minas Gerais.
São Paulo, October, 1995.
.
*TN: being from the brazilian state of Minas Gerais.
**I cannot resist an example. Recently, in a presentation text for the young painter Fábio Miguez, a critic appeared to almost be asking forgiveness, because his subject paints, honestly, with color, form, paint and brush, without any greater qualms. At a certain point the text declares, as if finally showing a quality: “even though his painting presents a somewhat counterfeit appearance”.
.
Note: the original title of this text was “ SÉRGIO NUNES, HIS WIFE AND THE SUN.” This text was written in connection to the solo exhibition “SÉRGIO NUNES - PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND OBJECTS” - Clóvis Salgado Foundation/Palácio das Artes Great Gallery/Belo Horizonte/Minas Gerais/Brazil, from 1 to 20 november/1995 - commemorating fifteen years of the artist’s activities; one hundred seventeen works by Sérgio Nunes were exhibited. The title of the text was changed to WORK IN PROGRESS when published (february/1996) in the Literary Suplement of the “Minas Gerais” (official newspaper). TO BE FREE AND ENTIRE is the definitive title.
Note: the original title of this text was “ SÉRGIO NUNES, HIS WIFE AND THE SUN.” This text was written in connection to the solo exhibition “SÉRGIO NUNES - PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND OBJECTS” - Clóvis Salgado Foundation/Palácio das Artes Great Gallery/Belo Horizonte/Minas Gerais/Brazil, from 1 to 20 november/1995 - commemorating fifteen years of the artist’s activities; one hundred seventeen works by Sérgio Nunes were exhibited. The title of the text was changed to WORK IN PROGRESS when published (february/1996) in the Literary Suplement of the “Minas Gerais” (official newspaper). TO BE FREE AND ENTIRE is the definitive title.
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About Sérgio Nunes
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Few contemporary artists have an intellectual repertoire as vast and complex as Sérgio Nunes. This unique feature, coupled with his particular sensibility and highly refined technique, has produced an oeuvre of absolute originality in relation to the brazilian artistic scene. This originality is expressed in his bold and transgressive approach that bucks all trends and defies all fashion. This independence is based on enormous creative force and is the hallmark of this great artist.
.
Rodrigo Duarte
Philosopher, Professor Philosophy Dept., Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
.
Few contemporary artists have an intellectual repertoire as vast and complex as Sérgio Nunes. This unique feature, coupled with his particular sensibility and highly refined technique, has produced an oeuvre of absolute originality in relation to the brazilian artistic scene. This originality is expressed in his bold and transgressive approach that bucks all trends and defies all fashion. This independence is based on enormous creative force and is the hallmark of this great artist.
.
Rodrigo Duarte
Philosopher, Professor Philosophy Dept., Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
.
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..
Campo Grande, 20 January 2002
.
Dear Friend
and multiple artist Sérgio Nunes,
.
I have received the sculpture,
painting, and even poetic material you
sent me. I wish to thank you. They are
amazing phases of your art.
Many thanks for the good taste
in everything. I am slowly
appreciating it all. And I will keep them all
amongst the most exciting presents
that I have ever received. I am very
fond of Minas and its
great artists.
.
An affectionate embrace,
.
Manoel de Barros.
Campo Grande, 20 January 2002
.
Dear Friend
and multiple artist Sérgio Nunes,
.
I have received the sculpture,
painting, and even poetic material you
sent me. I wish to thank you. They are
amazing phases of your art.
Many thanks for the good taste
in everything. I am slowly
appreciating it all. And I will keep them all
amongst the most exciting presents
that I have ever received. I am very
fond of Minas and its
great artists.
.
An affectionate embrace,
.
Manoel de Barros.
.
(Manoel de Barros - letter to Sérgio Nunes).
.
