João Maria Gusmão: Massa Confusa

Andrew Kreps Gallery is pleased to announce Massa Confusa, an online exhibition by João Maria Gusmão on his current research on analogue means and concepts, photographic materialism, and satirical meta-literature. The title, Massa Confusa (chaotic matter), refers to the esoteric tradition of alchemy, a predecessor of modern chemistry, whose goal was to cleanse an amalgamate into a substance that could serve a variety of purposes from granting immortality to transmuting metals from quicksilver into gold. Massa confusa would be the initial chaotic description of the compound from which this mystical and chemical process would begin. The exhibition consists of twenty-four unique photographic prints shot directly on RA4 paper with an 8x10 inches camera, and a short story by João Maria Gusmão – translated by Chris Foster, designed by Ana Baliza and read by Post Brothers, writer/curator/performer and a friend of the artist.

Recently, Gusmão has been developing a printing technique using light sensitive photographic paper and experimenting with different color chemistry. In the first presentation of Gusmão latest photos there is a structuralist likeness between the photographic subject and the final rendering of the images. Working with a collection of traditional Japanese inspired Chawan bowls by Victor Harris (b. 1964, Bristol), Gusmão proposes a tautological serendipity connecting the exquisite glazed surfaces and forms of Harris’ ceramic to his own experimental approach towards the photographic object. The result reveals an alchemical inquiry into the nature and logic of appearances.

Gusmão pictures Harris’ Chawans as an archetypal object, a ceremonial teacup which resembles a vessel for melting metals, a crucible. His processual approach suggests, by the myriad of painterly colors, control and chance-driven chemical reactions, the idea of a photographic kiln: a volcanic photography for lava glazed ceramics. In addition to the recognizable tea bowls, Gusmão presents photos, shot and processed during the same sessions, in which the subject has been erased either by extreme manipulation or by failed exposure in the shooting. These images further convey the self-sufficiency of the chemical imaging, stretching the photographic medium beyond the dichotomy visible/invisible and  questioning the limits of representation in photography.

Four years ago, Gusmão started writing his own version of the Faustian myth in short story episodes; these stories have appeared throughout Gusmão’s exhibitions as well as in commissioned texts by the artist. Writing through a stylized surrealist idiocy of literary adventuring, Gusmão aims at subtly connecting the art objects presented with his thought processes and conceptual apparatus. The latest short story finds Faust in a tearoom parlor waiting for a moneylender to support his alchemical entrepreneurship…

In addition to the online exhibition, a selection of works is on view at our 22 Cortlandt Alley location.

Press the play button below to listen to Post Brothers' reading of Massa Confusa in English.