Alex Cerveny, Mondo Reale: stop, look and listen, ph. Andrea Rossetti
Mondo Reale: stop, look and listen. Making Of
November 23 2022
From the studio of artist Alex Cerveny in São Paulo in Brazil, we unveil the making of the work Mondo Reale: stop, look and listen, part of the exhibition Mondo Reale, curated by Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain for the 23rd International Exhibition Unknown Unknowns. An Introduction to Mysteries.
Alex Cerveny’s work for Mondo Reale is an invitation to take the time to stop, look and listen to the multitude of creatures populating both reality and fiction. Many subjects intertwine in this painting, starting with the frieze, which depicts a parade of characters and a list of artists’ names. From waste or from leftovers, written language rises like smoke over the landscape in the form of writing or simple literacy of names and phrases compiled from everyday life. Alex Cerveny’s work alludes to a fantastic world in which biblical and mythological characters, fauna, flora and surreal landscapes mingle. The relationship with the text, with narratives from all times from antiquity to soap operas and with the body is also present in his paintings. Alex Cerveny’s meticulous compositions encompass biblical, mythological, autobiographical and pop culture references, usually followed by texts, which often take the form of his personal glossaries. Genealogies interact with a personal and collective mythology, which make us wonder in astonishment and curiosity.
Alex Cerveny, Mondo Reale: stop, look and listen, detail, ph. Andrea Rossetti
Artist’s biography
Alex Cerveny is a Brazilian artist, engraver, sculptor, illustrator and painter, born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1963. He carried out independent studies, namely drawing and painting, metal engraving and printing techniques, and lithography courses. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he exhibited paintings, drawings, and engravings in important group and solo shows. In 1989, he was part of the group show Panorama da Arte Brasileira Artistas, at MAM-SP. In 1991, he participated in the 21st São Paulo International Biennial, the same year in which he won the Secretaria de Cultura award for the series Astronomia Babilônica. In 2019, he exhibited with Fondation Cartier for the first time in the exhibition Trees (Paris and Shanghai). Cerveny was recently invited to present his work at the 23rd Biennale of Sydney (2022).
Mondo Reale is presented by Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, as part of the 23rd International Exhibition Unknown Unknowns. An Introduction to Mysteries. Designed by Italian designers Formafantasma, the exhibition Mondo Reale presents works by seventeen international contemporary artists.
