Still Being

When we get off the JK (pronounce Jakaka) bridge driving to the city, there is a large concrete building on the Northern side of the road that attracted my attention.
I met my first set of girlfriends in that building.  Not obvious to reach by car, like other places in Brasilia (read my post on how we got to the National Museum), the CCBB is well worth the effort. The name of the museum stands for Centro Cultural Banco de Brasil, and like many other cultural destinations in town, is with a free admission. Exhibition are rotated frequently, and their level is of high international standards.
When we arrived first in city, the facade of the CCBB was adorned by a large sign spelling Amazonias. Today there is a cast iron statue of a naked man standing along side the road, not far from it. And a few more of these statues are placed in a few strategic locations in the city. The work of the British artist Anthony Gormley is on display.
The work of the artist is interesting. Working mostly with his own body, casting it and replicating it in various medias and abstraction, the artist is internationally known.  In Brasilia, he produced three different installations, plus one room filled with a number of models of previous work. The main installation is called "Corpos Presentes / Still Being", regrouping a large number of statues of the artist's own body in various positions, installed in an open air space specially constructed for this installation. The effect is quit surreal and impressive.

 

In the museum we listened to videos of the artist explaining his methodology, adding a new dimension to the installation. The kids were as fascinated as we were to hear him speak of the development of his project. Another Place, an installation of 100 cast iron figures facing the sea of Crosby Beach, near Liverpool, was the subject of another video. Another video also presented the painstaking approach of the artist to create a giant mecano assemblage of 27 tons of welded steel in the shape of a crouched body. I am not able to remember where this was installed.
The exhibition of the models was interesting, giving us a hint on his approach at deconstructing the body and recreating it in a different way. I really enjoyed the model of his Angel of the North and of Quantum Cloud.
In 1994 Gormley has won the Turner Price for Field for the British Isles. From the exhibition room we walked downstairs into a very dimly lit room, where several pictures of native indians working with clay. For a moment I thought it was the left-overs of the previous exhibition Amazonias. Then around the corner, I discovered the Amazonian Field, a work he created 20 years ago with Brazilian natives. The space occupied by 24,000 small terracota figures,  made by the villagers of Porto Vielho over the period of a week. The effect is very stunning. I was really touched, unaware that Gormley was the author of this well publicized work. And please such famous artist would make the trip to Brasilia.