Cássio Vasconcellos (São Paulo SP 1965)
Photographer.
In 1981, Cássio Campos Vasconcellos attended photography courses at the Escola Imagem-Ação in São Paulo. He began working as a photojournalist for the magazine IstoÉ in 1984. The following year, he spent six months in New York. He worked at Folha de S. Paulo in 1988 and moved to Paris, where he worked as a freelancer for that newspaper and for Editora Abril in 1989. In 1990, he took advertising photographs for the agency DPZ Propaganda. He then set up his own studio and specialized in aerial photography. Alongside his commercial activities, he developed experimental projects in which he made interventions that strip the photographic image of its documentary aspect. In 1994, he launched the book Cássio Vasconcellos. Paisagens Marinhas [Seascapes], with photos made from fragments of negatives joined with adhesive tape and fire, as well as darkroom manipulations that give the works the look of prints. He received the Prêmio Nacional de Fotografia [National Photography Award] from the Fundação Nacional de Arte - Funarte in 1995; the J. P. Morgan Photography Award in 1999; and the Porto Seguro Photography Award in 2001. He took part in the Arte Cidade event in São Paulo in 1994 and 2002. He won the best exhibition of the year award from the Associação Brasileira de Críticos de Arte - ABCA [Brazilian Association of Art Critics] with the show Noturnos - São Paulo [Nocturnes - São Paulo], which gave rise to the book of the same name. Between 2003 and 2004, he lived at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.
Critical Commentary
Taking the urban landscape as his theme, Cássio Vasconcellos works with procedures that move photography away from its documentary function and bring it closer to the universe of painting and the graphic arts. Like other contemporary artists, he critically revisits pictorialism, a photographic movement that emerged at the end of the 19th century.
In the series Panorâmicas Verticais [Vertical Panoramas], seeking to distance himself from everyday perception, he photographed São Paulo from a helicopter. He then stuck transparent adhesive tape on the negative, highlighting parts of it in a vertical rectangular format. Besides eliminating the illusion of depth, by showing sequences of cars and buildings seen from above, he presents an ordered view of the chaotic megalopolis. His choices create an estrangement from what is known of the city and produce images that recall old prints.
In Noturnos [Nocturnes], the artist adds characteristics of painting, printmaking and cinema to photography. As if painting urban space directly, he travels at night lighting buildings, bridges and overpasses with flashlights and spotlights with colored filters. He uses a Polaroid camera with a type of film that accentuates color saturation, scans the photos and prints them with inkjet on porous paper. The result looks like a print, but the fragmented framings, the absence of human figures and the yellow and green tones evoke a futuristic setting of abandonment. In this case, by moving away from the everyday dimension, the artist reveals aspects of a contradictory reality in which technology coexists with the gloomy and the decadent.
Critiques
"THE NEW SERIES - 'PEIXES' [FISH] - MAKES EVEN THICKER the texture that envelops things. They are photos enlarged to large dimensions, with extremely complex scenes. The images are made from a large negative, the product of collaging parts of several others - with adhesive tape and fire - so as to form a single plate. The result is images of great density, an atmosphere endowed with heavy materiality.
IN THESE MURKY, MUDDY LANDSCAPES, each of the added figures is in focus, subverting the perspectival organization of the picture. Moreover, the dimensions of the figures do not correspond to their position in space, also altering the conventional proportions of the image. The planes do not seem to fit together naturally. The montage is evident, with no attempt to hide the joins. The surface of the image is filled evenly. The mass of the schools of fish, the coiled rope or mossy stone occupy the whole picture.
THE IMAGES ARE COMPOSED OF HORIZONTAL STRIPS - sky, sea, seabed. But everything is placed on the same plane. Disproportionate dimensions - enormous fish, small stones and boats - make the space ambiguous. The gaze has no point of view; it moves from top to bottom, as if it could travel along the waterline. Paradoxically shallow panoramas, devoid of perspective. The image of the contemporary world, saturated and opaque: the bottom of the sea".
Nelson Brissac Peixoto
VASCONCELLOS, Cássio. Paisagens marinhas: fotografias. n. p.
Collections
Coleção Pirelli/Masp de Fotografias [Pirelli/Masp Photography Collection] - São Paulo SP
Museum of Fine Arts Collection - Houston (United States)
MAM/RJ Collection - Rio de Janeiro RJ
Bibliothèque Nationale Collection - Paris (France)
Joaquim Paiva Collection - Brasília DF
Bert Hartkampf Collection - Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Solo Exhibitions
2002 - São Paulo SP - Noturnos São Paulo [Nocturnes São Paulo], at Galeria Vermelho
Group Exhibitions
1982 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Pequenos Retratos da Rua Augusta [Small Portraits of Rua Augusta], at MAM/RJ
1982 - São Paulo SP - Pequenos Retratos da Rua Augusta [Small Portraits of Rua Augusta], at Masp
1982 - São Paulo SP - Vila Suíça [Swiss Village], at Escola de Fotografia Imagem e Ação
1983 - Brasília DF - 2ª Semana Nacional de Fotografia [2nd National Photography Week], at Funarte
1983 - Brasília DF - São Paulo Gigante e Intimista [São Paulo, Gigantic and Intimate], at UnB
1983 - Fortaleza CE - São Paulo Gigante e Intimista [São Paulo, Gigantic and Intimate], at Museu de Arte da UFCE
1983 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Paisagem Útil [Useful Landscape], with Paul Constantinides and Paulo Peltier, at MAM/RJ
1983 - São Paulo SP - Mostra de Fotografia da União dos Fotógrafos [Photographers' Union Photography Exhibition], at CCSP
1983 - São Paulo SP - Paisagem Útil [Useful Landscape], with Paul Constantinides and Paulo Peltier, at CCSP
1983 - São Paulo SP - Pequenos Retratos da Rua Augusta [Small Portraits of Rua Augusta], at Café Europa
1983 - São Paulo SP - São Paulo Gigante e Intimista [São Paulo, Gigantic and Intimate], at CCSP
1985 - Havana (Cuba) - 3º Colóquio Latino-Americano de Fotografia [3rd Latin American Photography Colloquium]
1985 - Havana (Cuba) - Casa das Américas
1985 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Fotografismo [Photographism], at Galeria de Fotografia da Funarte
1985 - São Paulo SP - 1ª Quadrienal de Fotografia [1st Photography Quadrennial], at MAM/SP
1986 - Havana (Cuba) - 2ª Bienal de Artes Plásticas [2nd Visual Arts Biennial]
1986 - Paris (France) - Miroir Rebelle, Mois de la Photo
1986 - Washington (United States) - Group show on São Paulo, organized by Galeria Fotóptica
1987 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Galeria FotoEspácio, at Centro Cultural de Buenos Aires
1987 - São Paulo SP - 5º Salão Paulista de Arte Contemporânea [5th São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon], at Pinacoteca do Estado
1988 - Milan (Italy) - Imagens de São Paulo [Images of São Paulo], 17th Milan Triennial
1988 - São Paulo SP - 6º Salão Paulista de Arte Contemporânea [6th São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon]
1989 - Amsterdam (Netherlands) - U-ABC, at Stedelijk Museum
1989 - Lisbon (Portugal) - Fundação Gulbenkian
1989 - São Paulo SP - Galeria Aliança Francesa
1989 - São Paulo SP - Ver o Invisível [Seeing the Invisible], at MIS/SP
1991 - Arles (France) - Incursões pelo Imaginário na Fotografia Brasileira Contemporânea [Incursions into the Imaginary in Contemporary Brazilian Photography], Rencontres d'Arles
1991 - Paris (France) - Tremplin pour les Images, at Palais de Tokyo
1991 - São Paulo (SP) - Sobrecor [Over-Color], at Casa da Fotografia Fuji
1991 - São Paulo SP - 2º Studio Internacional de Tecnologias de Imagens [2nd International Studio of Image Technologies], at Sesc Pompéia
1992 - Houston (United States) - Color from Brazil, at FotoFest'92
1992 - São Paulo SP - 2ª Coleção Pirelli/Masp de Fotografias [2nd Pirelli/Masp Photography Collection], at Masp
1993 - Niterói RJ - Galeria de Arte da UFF
1993 - Paris (France) - Artistes d'Amérique Latine contre le Choléra, at Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpetrière
1993 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Galeria do Ibac/Funarte
1993 - São Paulo SP - Impulses, at Centro de Informática e Cultura I
1994 - São Paulo SP - 1º Arte Cidade: cidades sem janelas [1st Arte Cidade: Cities without Windows], at Matadouro Municipal da Vila Mariana
1994 - São Paulo SP - Paisagens Marinhas [Seascapes], at MIS/SP
1995 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Fotografia Brasileira Contemporânea [Contemporary Brazilian Photography], at CCBB
1995 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Libertinos/Libertários [Libertines/Libertarians]
1995 - São Paulo SP - Coletiva Brasileira de Retratos Anos 80 e 90 [Brazilian Group Show of Portraits from the 1980s and 1990s], at Espaço Cultural Faap
1996 - Curitiba PR - Brasil, Mostra Tua Cara [Brazil, Show Your Face], at 1ª Bienal Internacional de Fotografia de Curitiba
1996 - São Paulo SP - 4º Studio de Tecnologias de Imagem [4th Studio of Image Technologies], at Sesc Pompéia. Nos Limites da Fotografia, no Sesc/Pompéia
1996 - Sittard (Netherlands) - Sampa: fotografia de São Paulo [Sampa: Photography of São Paulo], at Museum Het Domein
1997 - Dallas (United States) - Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery
1997 - Mülheim an der Ruhr (Germany) - Sampa: fotografia de São Paulo [Sampa: Photography of São Paulo], at Kunstmuseum in der Alten Post
1997 - São Paulo SP - BitFoto, at Exposição virtual disponível em [http://www.casadasrosas.sp.gov. br/bitfoto/welcome.htm], realizada pela Casa das Rosas dentro do 3º Mês da Fotografia
1997 - São Paulo SP - Galeria Camargo Vilaça
1999 - São Paulo SP - Fotocolecionismo [Photo Collecting], at Galeria Luisa Strina
1999 - São Paulo SP - Prêmio J. P. Morgan de Fotografia [J. P. Morgan Photography Award], at MAM/SP
1999 - Wolfsburg (Germany) - Brasilianische Fotografie 1946 bis 1998, at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
2001 - São Paulo SP - Mostra Prêmio Porto Seguro Fotografia [Porto Seguro Photography Prize Exhibition], at Espaço Porto Seguro Fotografia - Prêmio Aquisição Campos Elíseos
2002 - Porto Alegre RS - Objetos do Desejo [Objects of Desire], at Santander Cultural
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Artefoto, at CCBB
2002 - São Paulo SP - 11ª Coleção Pirelli/Masp de Fotografias [11th Pirelli/Masp Photography Collection], at Masp
2002 - São Paulo SP - 4º Artecidadezonaleste [4th Artecidadezonaleste], at Sesc Belenzinho
2002 - São Paulo SP - Fotografias no Acervo do Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo [Photographs in the Collection of the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo], at MAM/SP
2002 - São Paulo SP - Ópera Aberta: celebração [Open Opera: Celebration], at Casa das Rosas
2002 - São Paulo SP - Visões e Alumbramentos: fotografia contemporânea Brasileira da coleção Joaquim Paiva [Visions and Illuminations: Contemporary Brazilian Photography from the Joaquim Paiva Collection], at Oca
2003 - Barcelona (Spain) - Mapas abiertos. Fotografía Latinoamericana 1991-2002 [Open Maps. Latin American Photography 1991-2002], at Palau de la Virreina
2003 - Brasília DF - Artefoto, at CCBB
2003 - Madrid (Spain) - Mapas Abiertos: fotografía latinoamericana 1991/2002 [Open Maps: Latin American Photography 1991/2002], at Fundación Telefonica
2003 - São Paulo SP - A Subversão dos Meios [The Subversion of Media], at Itaú Cultural
2003 - São Paulo SP - Labirintos e Identidades: a fotografia no Brasil de 1945 a 1998 [Labyrinths and Identities: Photography in Brazil from 1945 to 1998], at Centro Universitário Maria Antonia
2003 - São Paulo SP - Ordenação e Vertigem [Order and Vertigo], at CCBB
2004 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Carnaval, at CCBB
2004 - São Paulo SP - (Des)construindo São Paulo [(De)constructing São Paulo], at MIS/SP
2004 - São Paulo SP - Inspiração [Inspiration], at Galeria Luisa Strina
2004 - São Paulo SP - Notações e Instantâneas [Notations and Snapshots], at Lurixs: Arte Contemporânea
2004 - São Paulo SP - Panoramas SP, at MIS/SP
2004 - São Paulo SP - São Paulo - 450 Anos - Paris [São Paulo - 450 Years - Paris], at Instituto Tomie Ohtake
2004 - São Paulo SP - São Paulo 450 Anos: a imagem e a memória da cidade no acervo do Instituto Moreira Salles [São Paulo 450 Years: the Image and Memory of the City in the Instituto Moreira Salles Collection], at Centro Cultural Fiesp
Source: Itaú Cultural
