Ellen de Bruijne

A spear, a spike, a point, a nail, a drip, a drop, the end of the tale.

03 Sep - 05 Nov 2016

Sara Ramo, Avalanche Concreta 2010
Installation, door and boxes, Dimensions variable
A SPEAR, A SPIKE, A POINT, A NAIL, A DRIP, A DROP, THE END OF THE TALE.
Ellen de Bruijne PROJECTS hosting Jeanine Hofland gallery
3 September – 5 November 2016

Group show with works by: Laura Belem, Débora Bolsoni, Cristiano Lenhardt, Sara Ramo and Matheus Rocha Pitta. Curated by Jeanine Hofland gallery and Tiago de Abreu Pinto, hosted by Ellen de Bruijne Projects

A first-person narrator finds the Aleph, “one of the points in space that contains all points”, in the corner of a basement on Garay Street and gets to see all the places in the world at the same time. This tale, The Aleph, by Borges, shows how the universal transcends as an abstraction in the concreteness of the particular.

The relation between universal and particular is to be found in forms of practical knowledge such as literary interpretation. It involves a situated kind of knowledge in which universal and particular inform one another. The works by Laura Belém, Débora Bolsoni, Cristiano Lenhardt, Matheus Rocha Pitta and Sara Ramo seem to share the same fabric as The Aleph since their matter surpasses their individual contexts without surrendering their specificness by exploring local aspects through a complex layering of references grounded by their cultural context.

When the narrator is in the core of his story and is about to explain the limitless Aleph, he feels obligated to denounce the limitation of language. Language, even if meant to be universal and set to be understood by everyone, can’t embrace all our being. How can we translate something immense, such as nature, into something particular and unique that could be our language? “Does this Aleph exist in the heart of a rock?” asks the Borgean narrator at the end of the tale.

With many thanks to Ellen de Bruijne Projects for their geat enthusiasm shown towards this project and for hosting the exhibition. We further would like to thank: Fortes Vilaça, Jaqueline Martins, Luisa Strina, Sprovieri, Athena Contemporânea and Celma Albuquerque.
 

Tags: Laura Belém, Débora Bolsoni, Cristiano Lenhardt, Matheus Rocha Pitta, Sara Ramo