What we call reality has countless strata, layers, dimensions, densities, conditions, types of porosity, and channels. Its unimaginable structural complexity moves, grows, and changes by the second into another immense universe of different viewpoints.
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Born in 1968 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Article

José Damasceno

The driving force behind José Damasceno’s work is the exploration of hitherto uncharted territory.

He insists that what we call reality is an immense network of various universes, dimensions, levels, and layers, the connections of which are revealed depending on one’s position and perspective. He intends his art to set perception, thought, and spaces in motion, thereby subjectively continuing the legacy of the neo-concrete movement of the 1950s and ’60s that so strongly characterized Brazil’s cultural landscape. Since the beginning of his career in the early 1990s, Damasceno has transformed everyday objects and materials into surprisingly poetic arrangements, frequently with a sly twist into the surreal.

In Agregado (1999), the artist has wedged together common aluminum shelves in a manner that creates a totally new and expansive arrangement. In so doing, he subjects these utilitarian objects to a physical as well as intellectual metamorphosis, questioning their meaning, form, and function. The new sculptural form, the transformation process and the source material thereby remain equally present—a cheerful, energy-charged state between chaos and order. The title of the work itself is programmatic, with the term “aggregate”—generally designating an entirety composed of internally incoherent components, and discussed in biology, technology, sociology, and philosophy since the time of Aristotle—here opening up an additional, extensive, web of possible references.

Katrin Steffen

Daros Exhibitions
Bibliography
Selected titles in our library

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José Damasceno. Plano de observação. Exhibition catalogue, Santander Cultural, Porto Alegre, Brasil. May 20 - July 26, 2015. With texts by Ligia Canongia, and the artist. Porto Alegre, Santander Cultural, 2015.

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Quinta Bienal do Mercosul. Uma história concisa da Bienal do Mercosul. Exhibition catalogue, Bienal de Artes Visuais do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, September 30 - December 4, 2005. With a text by Gaudêncio Fidelis. Porto Alegre, Fundação Bienal de Artes Visuais do Mercosul, 2005.

Impermanência e transitoriedade. Exhibition catalogue, Museu de Arte, Espírito Santo, Brazil, December 20, 2014 - March 30, 2015. With a text by Franklin Espath Pedroso. Espírito Santo, Museu de Arte do Espírito Santo, 2004.

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Living inside the grid. New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, February 28 - June 15, 2003. With an essay by Dan Cameron. New York, New Museum of Contemporary Art, 2003.

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Violência e paixão. Artur Barrio, Cabelo, Iberê Camargo, Ivan Serpa, Ivens Machado, Jorge Guinle, José Damasceno, Karin Lambrecht, Miguel Rio Branco, Nuno Ramos, Tunga. Exhibition catalogue, Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, April 17 - June 9, 2002. With a text by Ligia Canongia. Rio de Janeiro, Museu de Arte Moderna, 2002.

Vivências. Dialogues between the works of Brazilian artist from 1960s - 2002. Exhibition catalogue, The New Art Gallery, Walsall, April 5 - June 9, 2002, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art, University of East Anglia, Norwich. With texts by Felicity Lunn (et al.). Walsall, The New Art Gallery; Manchester, Cornerhouse Publications, 2002.

Côte à côte. Art contemporain du Brésil. Exhibition catalogue, capcMusée d'art contemporain, Bordeaux, France, October 27, 2001 - January 20, 2001. With texts by Nelson Aguilar (et al.). Bordeaux, capcMusée d'art contemporain, 2001.

El final del eclipse. El arte de América Latina en la transición al siglo XXI. Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, Spain, September 13 - November 18, 2001. With texts by José Jiménez (et al.). Madrid, Fundación Telefónica, 2001.

Em busca da identidade = Auf der Suche nach Identität Aktuelle Kunst aus Brasilien. Exhibition catalogue, Ursula Blickle Stiftung, Kraichtal, Museum für moderne und zeitgenössische Kunst Rupertinum, Salzburg, Galleria Communale d'Arte Moderna, Bologna. Edited by Peter Weiermair, with an essay by Lisette Lagnado.. Zurich, Edition Oehrli, 2001.

Experiment, Experiência. Art in Brazil 1958 -2000. Exhibition catalogue, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK, July 28 - October 21, 2001. With texts by Astrid Bowron, Nelson Aguilar, Paulo Venancio Filho et al. Oxford, Museum of Modern Art, 2001.

Squatters = Ocupações. Exhibition catalogue, Museu Serralves, Porto, June 23 - September 16, 2001. With texts by Vicente Todolí (et al.). Porto, Museu de Serralves, Museu de Arte Contemporânea; Rotterdam, Witte de With, 2001.

Alegoria. Arte brasileira. Século XX. Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo. By Tadeu Chiarelli. São Paulo, Lemos Editorial, 2000.

Arte contemporânea = Contemporary art. Mostra do redescobrimento. Parque Ibirapuera, São Paulo, April 23 - September 7, 2000. With texts by Nelson Aguilar (et al.) and a foreword by Edemar Cid Ferreira. São Paulo, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo; Associação Brasil 500 Anos Artes Visuais, 2000.

Brasil. Plural y singular. Exhibition catalogue, Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, March - May 2000. With a text by Clelia Taricco. Buenos Aires, Museo de Arte Moderno, 2000.

Wanderlust. Excursions in contemporary sculpture. Exhibition catalogue, Fundament Foundation, Tilburg, August 19 - October 15, 2000. With texts by Chris Driessen (et al.). Tilburg, Fundament Foundation, 2000.

XXVI Bienal de Pontevedra.El espacio como proyecto, el espacio como realidad = O espacio como prxoxecto, o espacio cimo realidade. Exhibition catalogue, Bienal de Pontevedra, Spain, July 30 - october 1, 200o. With texts by José Carlos Valle Pérez and María de Corral. Pontevedra, Bienal de Pontevedra, 2000.

Cotidiano/Arte. Objeto anos 60/90. Exhibition catalogue, Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, April 8 - May 30, 1999, Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, June 16 - August 8, 1999. With texts by Agnaldo Farias and Reynaldo Roels. São Paulo, Itaú Cultural, 1999.

O Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro. With a text by Maria del Carmen Zilio. São Paulo, Banco Safra, 1999.

Os 90. Exhibition catalogue, Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro and Espaço Cultural Sergio Porto, Rio de Janeiro, December 9, 1999 - March 5, 2000. With contributions by Anna Maria Niemeyer (et al.). Rio de Janeiro, Paço Imperial, 1999.

Segunda Bienal Iberoamericana de Lima. Exhibition catalogue, 2nd Iberoamerican Biennial, Lima, October 26 - December 15, 1999. With texts by Luis Lama (et al.). Lima, Bienal Iberoamericana, 1999.

José Damasceno. Trabalhos 1992 - 1998. Exhibition catalogue, Galeria Camargo Vilaça, São Paulo, 1998. With texts by Macedonio Fernandez and Adriano Pedrosa. São Paulo, Galeria Camargo Vilaça, 1998.

Poéticas da cor. Exhibition catalogue, Centro Cultural Light, Rio de Janeiro, September 9 - October 25, 1998. With texts by Ligia Canongia. Rio de Janeiro, Centro Cultural Light, 1998.

Así está la cosa. Instalación y arte objeto en América Latina. Exhibition catalogue, Centro Cultural Arte Contempráneo, México, July 25 - October 20, 1997. With texts by Kurt Hollander, Gerardo Mosquera (et al.). Mexico City, Centro Cultural Arte Contemporáneo, 1997.

I Bienal de artes visuais do Mercosul = I Bienal de artes visuales del Mercosur. Exhibition catalogue, 1st Biennial of Mercosur, Porto Alegre, October 2 - November 30, 1997. With texts by Frederico Morais (et al). Porto Alegre, Fundação Bienal, 1997.

Material immaterial. Exhibition catalogue, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, March 14 - April 27, 1997. With texts by Benjamin Genocchio (et al.). Sydney, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1997.

Suspended Instants. Exhibition catalogue, Art in General, New York, November 8, 1997 - January 10, 1998, Sculpture Center, New York, November 7 - December 20, 1997.. New York, Art in General, 1997.

Transparências. Exhibition catalogue, Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, October 1996. WIth texts by Denise Mattar and Marcus de Lontra Costa. Rio de Janeiro, Museu de Arte Moderna, 1996.

Panorama da arte brasileira 1995. Exhibition catalogue, Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Ocotber 24 - November 26, 1995, Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, December 5 - January 21, 1996. With texts by Ivo Mesquita and Cacilda Teixeira da Costa. São Paulo, Museu de Arte Moderna, 1995.

José Damasceno. Exhibition brochure, Galeria do Ibeu, Copacabana e Madureira, Rio de Janeiro, September 15 - October 7, 1994. With a text by Marcio Doctors. 1994.

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