Carlito Carvalhosa / Artur Lescher / Marco Maggi. Theory of the Inevitable Convergence

About

In addition to formal artistic intersections, the chosen works evoke important questions that the three artists have recurrently posed to the public, including the ways in which their works relate to the surrounding space, be it through interference and disruption or through suggesting an unknown place, linked or not to the physical realm. The works thus invite the viewer to experience new circumstances and, perhaps, rethink their relationship to the world around them. Arthur Lescher presents Finials, small sculptures on pedestals meant to reference architectural structures: the apse of a church or temple, a corporate building, or—as the artist ironically puts it—the tip of a missile, evoking the power and eloquence of man. Also on display are the artist’s Pendulums, which resemble vibrating instruments and magnetic sources, sensitive to the disturbances of the space around them as well as the transient state of the observer. Subject to the force of gravity, the pendulums could act as instruments of an invisible writing, incessantly suggesting a new history/memory for both the space in which they are situated and the works that surround them. Carlito Carvalhosa’s installation, in turn, comprises oils on mirrored aluminum, hanging or leaning against tubular lamps symmetrically arranged on the wall. The mirrored pieces offer a singular experience: the viewer is prevented from seeing his/her full reflection, only able to experience it partially or in a distorted manner due to the almost fully painted surfaces. Given the current social context, in which everyone constantly sees and shares images of themselves on different networks, Carvalhosa’s installation triggers a strange feeling within the viewer, who instantly pauses and enters something of a “non-place,” where the lack of narrative can be disconcerting.

Marco Maggi presents Podium, a triptych of three panels, each a different size and color—gold, silver, and bronze.
To create the work, the artist precisely and delicately carved signs into metallic sheets, which he then placed inside slide frames. Although the title and colors immediately suggest a narrative, when approaching the work, the viewer realizes that each slide offers a unique abstract image that has the ability to gain different meanings. In the words of the artist: “If there is no complicity with the spectator, the work does not exist.” He goes on to say, “When people ask me what I do, what my profession is, I answer that I am a promoter of pauses.” Podium is therefore an invitation to another temporality, creating the opportunity to lose oneself and get carried away by the abstract narrative of the artist.
The formality and rigor present in Maggi’s delicate geometric creation is also present in Lescher’s works, throughout their precise forms, which lack excess. These forms, composed of essentially reflective surfaces, in turn find a counterpoint in Carvalhosa’s painted aluminum while at the same time circling back to Maggi, who poses the same questions through his carvings in metallic sheets.
Using these convergences as starting points while simultaneously allowing the differences between their works to shine through, the artists invite the public to discover new possibilities and routes. In Maggi’s words, “We deserve a pause, and an insignificant drawing can work as a perfect training ground to increase our capacity to live in an illegible context.” Lescher emphasizes that “it is the flow of thought in its various states of perception that builds the senses. A cyclical form of time finds its place.” Carvalhosa concludes, “In the garden of the paths that bifurcate, there is the Theory of the Inevitable Convergence!”