If translated visually, the "mental image" of a labyrinth can instantly lead us to a vertiginous plunge that soon unfolds into the beauties, pleasures, fears, confabulations, and endless questions tied to human existence and also to the artistic endeavor. Chosen by José Bechara (Rio de Janeiro, 1957) as the title for this exhibition, Wanderings in the Labyrinth brings together a collection of the artist’s new works, highlighting the multidisciplinary nature of his practice.
Working across diverse mediums, Bechara navigates his self-constructed labyrinth with the dexterity of a master: his works—whether in painting, sculpture, photography, or beyond—compose a cohesive "body of work" that reflects an artist committed to creating across different media and continually experimenting in various realms. This journey, shared here by the artist with his viewers, reveals itself as that of a flâneur wandering through a diffuse and endless labyrinth of artistic possibilities—possibilities as erratic as they are precise, as diffuse as they are Cartesian.
In his canvases, Bechara begins his process with materials that once served as truck tarpaulins—unconventional surfaces already steeped in history and experience, far removed from the clean, aseptic surface of the traditional white canvas. These are large, robust fabrics, already marked by time, covered in stains, darkened areas, and the visible signs of wear and existence.
Upon these fabrics, the artist pictorially inserts a kind of grid—lines and marks that allude to the order of the modern grid—as well as geometric motifs such as spheres, squares, rectangles, and more. It is worth noting here the use of both acrylic paint and oxidized materials, which blend together to create layered volumes, colors, and textures. The coexistence of these elements reveals a painting filled with signs of memory, shaped by the artist's poetic gestures during his studio process.
In this new body of work, Bechara also presents possibilities of experimentation that go beyond the mere surface of the canvas and extend into its contours. In small-scale pieces, the artist creates a series of works in circular and other nontraditional formats, establishing a metalinguistic relationship between the geometric signs within his paintings and the very shapes of the works themselves.
Thus, a cohesive set is formed—one that at times evokes the labyrinthine diffusion mentioned in the exhibition's title, and at others presents a group of works that not only shed light on Bechara’s multidisciplinary practice but also catapult us into dreamlike, earthly, sidereal, labyrinthine, Cartesian images, and beyond—continuing endlessly.
Victor Gorgulho
Opening Thursday, June 5th 5PM-8PM
José Bechara works within a broad field of research involving space, volume, surface, and composition, presenting the results through series that encompass painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and installation. His work creates a constant oscillation between genres, positioning his artistic practice at their intersections. In his paintings, he often reuses truck tarpaulins and manipulates carbon, copper, and steel oxides to produce diptychs, triptychs, or polyptychs with varying intensities, exploring color, line, and patterns.
The artist has exhibited his work in solo and group shows at various institutions, including: Fundação Eva Klabin, Brazil; Culturgest, Portugal; MEIAC, Spain; Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderna, Spain; MAM Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Brazil; Ludwig Museum, Germany; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Germany; Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Germany; and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Portugal, among others. His work is included in several prominent collections, such as MAM Rio de Janeiro; the Gilberto Chateaubriand Collection, Brazil; Centre Pompidou, France; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil; and the Ludwig Museum (Koblenz), Germany.
