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Nelson Felix

1954, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Lives and works in Mury/Nova Friburgo, Brazil

CV
about

A sculptor and draughtsman, Felix carried out, at the beginning of his career, drawings loaded with matter obtained through the continuous pressure of the charcoal on paper. They seem to anticipate his early sculptural work, where he proposes graphite monoliths, in which small diamonds are inserted. In later works, nature is constrained and potentialized by cultural objects and by sculptural matter, whose imminent transformation the artist explores. His interest turns to the interiority of things and to the relations between equilibrium and instability in the construction of an architectural space in which his works are installed. The human body, word and language, poetry and cartography acquire, in his practice, a plastic dimension, revealing its mythical or symbolic aspects.

His solo exhibitions include: 33rd Bienal de São Paulo – Affective Affinities, Pavilhão da Bienal, São Paulo, SP, Brazil (2018); Variações para Cítera e Santa Rosa, Galeria Millan, São Paulo, Brazil (2017); Trilha para 2 lugares e trilha para 2 lugares, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil (2017); Concerto para Encanto e Anel, Instituto Oi Futuro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; OOCO, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil (2015); Projeto 4 Cantos (third part), Karratha, Australia (2008); and Projeto Olhando Cavalariças, Reykjavik, Varmalid, Hekla, Iceland (2008). He also participated in important group shows, including: Osso, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil (2017); 6ª VentoSul – Bienal de Curitiba, Brazil (2011); Paper Trail: 15 Brazilian Artists, Allsopp Contemporary, London, England (2008); Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2005); Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil (2004), among others.

His work is featured in important public collections, such as: Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil; Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Nynex Corporation, New York, USA; and Coleção Banco Itaú, São Paulo, Brazil. He has received awards throughout his career, such as: Prêmio de Artes Plásticas Marcantonio Vilaça for the whole of the work, Ministério da Cultura/Funarte (2006); artist residency, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2002); artist residency, Curtin University, Perth, Australia (1994); and Prêmio Sol de Prata for his video O Oco, 22nd Clermond-Ferrand International Film, Television and Video Festival, France (1994).

His work is discussed in OOCO, with texts by Rodrigo Naves and Taísa Palhares, on the occasion of his eponymous exhibition at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil (2015); Concerto para Encanto e Anel, with texts by Ronaldo Brito and Marisa Flórido Cesar (Editora Casa 11, 2011); Trilogias: Conversas entre Nelson Felix e Glória Ferreira (Pinakotheke, 2005); Nelson Felix, with texts by Glória Ferreira, Nelson Brissac and Sônia Salzstein (Casa da Palavra, 2001); and Nelson Felix, with a text by Rodrigo Naves (Cosac & Naify, 1998).

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