Lokaal WV15 presents
Cesar Mendes
WHITE WHASHING
You’re welcome at the opening on Saturday 27 of March 2010 from 16:00 to 19:00
hours. The exhibition will be open every Saturday in April from 15:00 to 17:00 hours
and by appointment.
Address exhibtion
Lokkal,WV15
Josilda da Conceicao
Mobile: 06 44184409
josilda@daconceicao.nl
Wormerveerstraat15
1013 SJ Amsterdam
About the artist
Cesar Mendes
Born in Brazil
Education: painting and drawing at Rietveld Academie and graduated in 2003.
His work
In general, my work is about social control, ‘white-washing’ of history and
cultural cliches. For several years now, my artistic work has dealt with state
burocracy and surveillance (e.g. psychiatric institutions, prison and asylum
centers) and its impact on the individual – isolation, alienation and depression.
Another focus is a society in denial about its past. I am from Brazil where racism,
atrocities under military rule and marginalising of indigenous peoples are swept
under the carpet. In Germany, where I moved to at the age of 28, there were
attempts to conceal and trivialize the Nazi past and the extensive ‘ Big brother’
apparatus in former east Germany. In the Netherlands, where I have lived for
about fifteen years, I have addressed xenophobia, treatment of the country’s
colonial past and its collaboration with Nazi Germany.
As for the topic cultural cliches, I am exploring the way notions of art, applied art
and folk art are expropriated and appropriated. More specifically, how Europe
and Brazil are – literally and figuratively – ‘recycling‘ each other.
To express this, I employ media such as objects, installations, drawing, collage
and weaving. I use plaster of Paris, brown wrapping-paper, official envelopes,
found objects, broken bric-a-brac, rejects, remnants, scraps, everyday articles
and utensils, wire, plastic bags and ordinary paint.
When representing control and alienation, my work is, on the whole, in white(grey)—black, non-figurative, minimalist, auster, bleak, hazy, remote, detached
and menacing.
However, when tackling inter-cultural clichés, my work tends to be more
complex and colorful, with irony being one of my favorite devices to subvert and
criticize with.
My work has definitely been fuelled by my personal experience: growing up in a
narrow minded provincial Brazilian town, culturally scarred by military rule,
moving countries, learning new languages, coping with discrimination and
restriction in Germany and the Netherlands, and, above all, coming to terms with
European clichés of what I as a Brazilian, am supposed to be like, look like, think
like – and even paint and draw like.
I studied painting and drawing at the Rietveld Academie and graduated in 2003.
Since then I have been trying to channel my cross/switch-over cultural and
personal experience by linking specific material, ideas and approaches already
present in my work to further develop the issue of recycling. Originally, I trained
and worked as an artistic weaver employing natural material and dyes. Together
with other like-minded Brazilian artists and weavers, I have been experimenting
with scrap material and waving techniques.
Contact details
Cesar Mendes
1234 AB Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Web:
Mail:
Mobile:
www.cesarmendes.com
cesarzanesco@yahoo.com
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