Miami, Sept. 27, 2017- Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Museum of Art + Design (MOA+D), in collaboration with Dimensions Variable, presents an exhibition and a lecture/performance by Brazilian artist Berna Reale from Sept. 29 through Oct. 13. A lecture/performance by Reale will be held at 6 p.m., Friday, Sept. 29, followed by a reception for the artist from 7 – 10 p.m.
Based in her native Belém, the capital and largest city of the northern Brazilian state of Pará, Reale creates lush videos of striking performances that engage social realities and conflicts in contemporary Brazil. Her work focuses particularly on the dynamics of power and coercion, enacting absurd yet compelling situations that can be seen as allegories of capitalism, economic and gender inequality, and systems of state control and discipline.
A marching band follows a group of fifty women in hot-pink Catholic schoolgirl uniforms, stepping in formation through city streets, in Rosa Púrpura (Purple Rose, 2014); their mouths are modified by prosthetics to resemble those of inflatable sex dolls. A sinister figure in a golden suit and gas mask tap dances on a red carpet at a vast landfill in Cantando na Chuva (Singing in the Rain, 2014). Dressed in police riot gear and a dog muzzle, the artist rides a dyed-red horse down empty streets in Palomo (2012). Vultures descend on the artist’s naked body, covered in fresh entrails as she lies on a lace-covered bier at a harbor in Quando Todos Calam (When Everyone Keeps Silent, 2009). Reale’s actions, some carried out at considerable personal risk, grippingly dramatize conditions of injustice and violence. While her performances directly address local circumstances, they resonate globally.
Born in 1965, Reale studied Art at the Federal University of Pará. In 2010 she began a second career as a forensic specialist at the Forensics Center of the State of Pará, and her firsthand experiences with violence, crime, corruption, and the criminal justice system have greatly influenced her provocative installations, performances, and videos. Her work has been exhibited widely in Brazil and in Europe, including at the 2015 Venice Biennale. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at the Museu de Arte do Rio in Rio de Janeiro in 2013, and at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art in Salt Lake City in 2016.
This exhibition marks only her second show in the United States and will include the North American premiere of many of her works. The collaborative presentation of the works of Reale launches Living Together, a six-month-long, cross-disciplinary series of performance art, film and video screenings, talks, and workshops held in venues across the greater Miami area. The works reflect the cultural, social, and political realities of how we live now. At this moment of radical change in the political landscape, with its increasing emphasis on borders, exclusion, and separation, and an accompanying sense of the urgency of political engagement, Living Together seeks to find new ways to think about civic space and citizenship, to instigate actions and conversations that may help us to reimagine our cities and our lives.
From Sept. 2017 to April 2018, Living Together will include performances and talks by acclaimed international artists and thinkers working today, including Carrie Mae Weems, William Kentridge, Tino Seghal, Karen Finley, Anna Maria Maiolino, My Barbarian, Samora Pinderhughes, to name a few.
For a full description and schedule of events, please visit http://mdcmoad.org/.
WHAT: Brazilian performance artist Berna Reale lecture performance
WHEN: Sept. 29 through Oct. 13
Opening Night: Sept. 29, 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. (performance), 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. (reception)
WHERE: MDC’s Wolfson Campus, Dimensions Variable, Bldg. 1, Third Floor, 300 N.E Second Ave
For more information about MDC’s Museum of Art + Design, please contact the museum at 305-237-7700, museum@mdc.edu, or visit www.mdcmoad.org.
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About MDC Museum of Art + Design
MDC Museum of Art and Design is dedicated to the presentation of visual art and design exhibitions. Housed at the National Historic Landmark Freedom Tower at Miami Dade College in downtown Miami, its mission is to promote the appreciation and understanding of art through direct engagement with original works.
About Dimensions Variable
Dimensions Variable (DV) is an exhibition space in Miami committed to the presentation and support of contemporary art. Through a collaborative exchange with artists and institutions, DV develops an exhibition program that engages the community and promotes new and experimental ideas. We engage diverse audiences and advance contemporary art through exhibitions, projects, lectures and educational programming.
Museum of Art+Design Media contact: Carolina Salazar, 305-237-7710 or csalaza4@mdc.edu