Press release: Rivane Neuenschwander

03.19.01

Rivane Neuenschwander was born in 1967 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where she lives
and works. She studied at the School of Fine Arts, UFMG, Brazil and the Royal College
of Art in London, England. She has exhibited her work internationally, including solo
exhibitions at IASPIS (the International Artists Studio Program in Sweden), Stockholm,
Sweden (2000); Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, England (1997, 1999); Galeria
Camargo VilaÃ§a, Sao Paolo, Brazil (1998, 2000); and Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin,
Ireland (2000). She has participated in numerous international biennials and festivals,
including the 5th International Istanbul Biennial, Turkey (1997); the 2nd Johannesburg
Biennale, South Africa (1997); XXIV Biennale of Sao Paolo, Brazil (1998); SITE Santa
Fe, NM (1999); and the First Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art, England (1999).
Her work has also been included in group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1995); The Museum of Fine Arts of Buenos Aires, Argentina
(1996); The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (1997); The New
Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY (1998); Kunstforeningen Copenhagen,
Denmark (1999); Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Aalborg, Germany (1999); and the
National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan (2000).

Merging the traditions of sculpture and drawing, Rivane Neuenschwander's work
combines precise handicraft with natural and found sources. The results are discrete
objects and temporary, material-based installations.

Rivane Neuenschwander was selected for her ArtPace residency by the March 1998
panel consisting of Dan Cameron, Annette DiMeo Carlozzi, Amada Cruz, Kellie Jones,
Hans-Ulrich Obrist, and Nancy Rubins.

Language is at the core of new work by Rivane Neuenschwander. During her
residency, the artist created two installations. The first, Omission Points, was a temporary
installation that occupied her studio space for only two days. The artist drilled holes into
the gallery's walls, creating a horizon line of negative space. The line did not stop for the
architecture?continued through the casement windows and metal doors of the gallery.
With this simple gesture, Neuenschwander implied an interruption and an imminent
disruption. The holes seemingly perforated the space, splitting it into a top and a bottom.
The holes also referenced language, creating a chain of ellipses, which rather than
connecting thoughts, simply gave space for a pause.

Only a trace of Omission Points remains in the gallery? holes in the windows.
For the exhibition on view, Neuenschwander presents a large-scale labyrinth of
cardboard boxes. The boxes are only knee-high, so the viewer does not get lost as in a
formal garden maze. One can follow the predetermined path or simply climb over the
edges. The course leads the viewer to a walled-off space for a video projection. The film,
made in collaboration with Brazilian filmmaker Cao Guimar‹es, shows an army of ants
marching across a room each carrying a piece of paper inscribed with text: on one side,
"WORD," on the other, "WORLD."

Also produced during her residency are photographs of beetles with soap bubbles.
Shot from above, they recall geometry and algebraic diagrams. The insects appear in
pairs: at times, within a bubble and, at others, separated by its edge. While the
arrangement is by chance, the metaphor for human relationships is inescapable.
Neuenschwander also presents new sculptures made from empty grapefruit peels. The
artist has carved letters of the alphabet into the fruit skins, which are hung from the wall
in plastic bags. This containment of language reflects Neuenschwander's ongoing
investigations of control?lack of control?nature, in language, in society.

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