THE 30th SÃO PAULO BIENAL
THE IMMINENCE OF POETICS
 
Under the title The Imminence of Poetics, the 30th São Paulo Bienal takes its curatorial premise from the multiplicity, recurrence and permanent mutability of artistic poetics. Poetics is understood as the instrumental repertoire that enables an individual or group, discipline or tradition, to establish – intuitively, intentionally or unconsciously – the discursive strategies or platforms that enable expressive acts of artistic nature. 
 
As Chief Curator Luís Pérez-Oramas points out, imminence represents “what is on the verge of happening, the word on the tip of one’s tongue, the expected silence that precedes the decision whether or not to speak, art as a discursive strategy and poetics in its plurality and multiplicity”.   
 
The fundamental tool of the 30th São Paulo Bienal will be the notion of Constellation, therefore instead of focusing on single artists or works, the exhibition will present audiences with constellations of oeuvres that share a common theme, process or ideology.
 
Taking as a conceptual base the understanding that poetics overlap, assimilate, condense and diverge, the curators of the 30th São Paulo Bienal – The Imminence of Poetics have established four conceptual notions: Survivals, Alterforms, Drifts and Voices, plus a transversal zone, Reverse. These hypotheses articulate in polyphonic form the artworks that comprise the 30th São Paulo Bienal.   

Survival
The notion of survival reflects on the selection of referential as well as contemporary works, enabling a dialogue within a shared historical field. In the 30th São Paulo Bienal, survival operates through the inscription of forms and practices constituted within the ambits of spatial and temporal distant lives.

Alterforms
Alterforms explores selective transformations that artists, consciously or unconsciously, produce within their own practice. Alterforms presents a panorama of the current state of de-formative re-readings of modernity, and will hinge upon investigations into the state of artistic mediums: examining the margins of painting, printmaking, poetry, theory, sound, cinema, literature, theater and photography in a time characterized by the monopoly of the image as medium.

Drifts
The exhibition proposes a set of altered forms in which hybridization and marginality can be understood as a drift. The remains of language in the field of art as well as spaces engendered by information technologies and digitalization resurface. What forms of nomadic practices are crucial to the understanding of our time? How can we understand drift into artistic forms and ideas as a fruitful approach to deal with contemporary art?

Voices
Voices manifests itself through works in which the performative dimension of art and phonetics prevail. Voices serves as a platform for the examination of relations between visual and discursive poetics. Approaching the voice as malleable artistic material in all its strands and possibilities, Voices pervades Survivals, Alterforms and Drifts and extends throughout the city of São Paulo and the Bienal’s virtual platforms. Creating a bridge between the notion of voice and the manifold performative dimensions of art, Voices provides a possibility to give the audience a voice.

Reverse
Conceived as a transversal zone in relation to the exhibition at the Biennial Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, Reverse is a platform that not only embraces all the curatorial elements of the 30th São Paulo Bienal, but shapes a citywide constellation. Reverse will take the form of urban interventions and exhibitions held in conjunction with partner institutions throughout the city, as well as film screenings and performances by Brazilian and international artists. Among the partners in the Reverse network are Casa Modernista, Capela do Morumbi, Casa do Bandeirante and other institutions.

Educational Component
The educational component of the 30th São Paulo Bienal – The Imminence of Poetics, coordinated by Stela Barbieri, is synchronized with the general curatorship of the exhibition. The educational program, conducted according to the concepts presented by the curators, is an opportunity to create dialogues that begin before the exhibition opens to the public and continue with courses, workshops and activities.   

Symposia
The Imminence of Poetics proposes a debate on the present state of artistic activity through a number of public programs in which the Biennial itself and the general aspects of its contents serve as the focus for discussion. Three symposia are scheduled for São Paulo throughout autumn 2012 in addition to a poetic/theoretical gathering, fostering a trans-territorial and trans-poetic dialogue between two cities - Ciudad Abierta, Valparaíso, in Chile, and São Paulo, Brazil.
 
São Paulo, April 12, 2012
 
Press enquiries
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Neila Carvalho - neilacarvalho@a4com.com.br
Karina Betencourt - karinabetencourt@a4com.br


List of participant artists

1. Absalon, Israel
2. Alair Gomes, Brazil
3. Alberto Bitar, Brazil
4. Alejandro Cesarco, Uruguay
5. Alexandre da Cunha, Brazil
6. Alexandre Moreira, Brazil
7. Alfredo Cortina, Venezuela
8. Ali Kazma, Turkey
9. Allan Kaprow, USA
10. Ambroise Ngaimoko (Studio 3Z), Angola
11. Andreas Eriksson, Sweden
12. Anna Oppermann, Germany
13. Arthur Bispo do Rosário, Brazil
14. Athanasios Argianas, England/Greece
15. August Sander, Germany
16. Bas Jan Ader, Netherlands
17. Benet Rossell, Spain
18. Bernard Frize, France
19. Bernardo Ortiz, Colombia
20. Bruno Munari, Italy
21. Cadu, Brazil
22. Charlotte Posenenske, Germany
23. Christian Vinck, Venezuela
24. Ciudad Abierta, Chile
25. Daniel Steegmann, Spain
26. Dave Hullfish Bailey, USA
27. David Moreno, USA
28. Diego Maquieira, Chile
29. Edi Hirose, Peru
30. Eduardo Berliner, Brazil
31. Eduardo Gil, Venezuela
32. Eduardo Stupía, Argentina
33. Elaine Reichek, USA
34. Erica Baum, USA
35. Fernand Deligny, France
36. Fernanda Gomes, Brazil
37. f.marquespenteado, Brazil/Portugal
38. Fernando Ortega, Mexico
39. Franz Erhard Walther, Germany
40. Franz Mon, Germany
41. Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Ivory Coast
42. Gego, Venezuela
43. Guy Maddin, Canada
44. Hans Eijkelboom, Netherlands
45. Hans-Peter Feldmann, Germany
46. Hayley Tompkins, England/Scotland
47. Helen Mirra, USA
48. Hélio Fervenza, Brazil
49. Horst Ademeit, Germany
50. Hreinn Fridfinnsson, Iceland/Netherlands
51. Hugo Canoilas, Portugal
52. Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scotland
53. Icaro Zorbar, Colombia
54. Ilene Segalove, USA
55. Iñaki Bonillas, Mexico
56. Ivan Argote & Pauline Bastard, Colombia
57. Jerry Martin, Peru
58. Jiří Kovanda, Czec Republic
59. John Zurier, USA
60. José Arnaud-Bello, Mexico
61. Juan Iribarren, Venezuela
62. Juan Luis Martínez, Chile
63. Juan Nascimiento & Daniela Lovera, Venezuela
64. Jutta Koether, Germany
65. Katja Strunz, Germany   
66. Kirsten Pieroth, Germany
67. Kriwet, Germany
68. Leandro Tartaglia, Argentina
69. Lucia Laguna, Brazil
70. Marcelo Coutinho, Brazil
71. Marco Fusinato, Australia
72. Maryanne Amacher, USA
73. Mark Morrisroe, USA
74. Martín Legón, Argentina
75. Meris Angioletti, Italy
76. Michel Aubry, France
77. Mobile Radio, England/Germany
78. Moris, Mexico
79. Moyra Davey, Canada
80. Nicolás Paris, Colombia
81. Nino Cais, Brazil
82. Nydia Negromonte, Brazil
83. Odires Mlaszho, Brazil
84. Olivier Nottellet, France
85. Pablo Accinelli, Argentina
86. Pablo Pijnappel, Brazil/Netherlands
87. Patrick Jolley, Ireland
88. Paulo Vivacqua, Brazil
89. Productos Peruanos Para Pensar (PPPP), Peru
90. Ricardo Basbaum, Brazil
91. Robert Filliou, France
92. Robert Smithson, USA
93. Roberto Obregón, Venezuela
94. Rodrigo Braga, Brazil
95. Runo Lagomarsino , Sweden
96. Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, Chile
97. Saul Fletcher, England
98. Savvas Christodoulides, Cyprus
99. Sergei Tcherepnin with Ei Arakawa, USA
100. Sheila Hicks, USA
101. Sigurdur Gudmundsson , Iceland
102. Simone Forti, USA
103. Sofia Borges, Brazil
104. Tehching Hsieh, Taiwan
105. Thiago Rocha Pitta, Brazil
106. Thomas Sipp, France
107. Tiago Carneiro da Cunha, Brazil
108. Viola Yesiltaç, Germany
109. Waldemar Cordeiro, Brazil
110. Xu Bing, China
111. Yuki Kimura, Japan

For more information:
bienal@bienal.org.br

Press Information

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