Zé Carlos Garcia

Overview
Zé Carlos Garcia
Zé Carlos Garcia studied sculpture at the School of Fine Arts of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, attended the Visual Arts School at Parque Lage. Zé Carlos Garcia’s sculptures present themselves as uncanny shapeshifters that can recombine their members to conjure up different species of insect, or transform pieces of furniture by cloaking them in plumage. This adding-on creates hybrids that not only preserve the meanings of their constituent parts, but also generate morbid curiosities out of distortions of their natures. Garcia seems to want to evince a certain perversity in his audience, caught somewhere between revulsion and fascination, playing on their voyeurism before such mangled bodies, however fictional they may be. The possibility of recreating the world through forms initially established by Aesthetics, that is, not proposed as “given” by nature, impelled him into a line of research that led to the sculptural construction of “birds”, the redefinition of “insects” and the "busts" sculpted from sedimentary stones that do not have a definite shape. The symbolism of the discourses of power that mark the construction of the history of humanity is also present in Zé Garcia's research, as in the "busts", with his notion of ephemerality and ruin, and in the horsehair flags and wooden stakes which refer us to masts, equestrian sculptures and obelisks, landmarks of conquest and narratives of territories. The “construction” of his work originates from existing bodies, sometimes dead, static, found, natural or artificial, and generates objects – beings – under the sign of sculpture. Parts and fragments of antique furniture associated with carnival plumes and feathers are arranged to create hybrids with aesthetic and allegorical power. His sculptures go in the opposite direction to the works created for posterity and executed in consistent materials, dialoguing with the dimension of eternity and ruin, with the construction of an ideal and the loss of power. The artist therefore suggests a discussion with the body as centerpiece – be it animal, human or sculptural – and experience as voluntary action that alters the landscape, undergoing constant morphological change, also through the addition of new elements.
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Works
Biography
Zé Carlos Garcia

Zé Carlos Garcia (Born in 1973, Aracaju, Brazil. Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). He has a graduate degree in sculpture by Escola de Belas Artes of Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; besides teaching degree in artistic education by Universidade Salgado de Oliveira, Niterói, Brazil. He also had attended courses at Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Solo exhibitions: Escultura Cega, Galeria Marilia Razuk, São Paulo, Brazil (2023); Grande Circo Floresta, Portas Vilaseca Galeria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2021); Torto, Cassia Bomeny Galeria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2018); Tropical, Espaço Saracura, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Do pó ao pó, Galeria do Lago, Museu da República, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2017); Ganimedes, Zipper Galeria, São Paulo, Brazil (2016); Finca, Amarelonegro Arte Contemporânea, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2015); Prumo, Memorial Meyer Filho, Florianópolis, Brazil (2014); Jogo, Centro Municipal de Artes Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2013); PET, Espaço Cultural Municipal Sérgio Porto, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2012); and Hereditários, DUREX Arte Contemporânea, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2010). Selected group exhibitions: Rio de Corpo e Alma, Museu Histórico da Cidade, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; 14ª Bienal do Mercosul: Estalo, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2025); NISE: a revolução pelo afeto, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Brasília/Sesc Sorocaba, Sorocaba, Brazil; Ainda Viva, Casa de Cultura do Parque, São Paulo, Brazil; Ensaio sobre paisagem, Instituto Inhotim, Brumadinho, Brazil (2024); Passeio Público: memórias e imaginações, Caixa Cultural Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; 22ª Bienal Sesc Vídeobrasil, Sesc 24 de maio, São Paulo, Brazil (2023); NISE: a revolução pelo afeto, Sesc Belenzinho, São Paulo, Brazil; Independência e Vida, Biblioteca Mário de Andrade, São Paulo, Brazil; NISE: a revolução pelo afeto, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2022); NISE: a revolução pelo afeto, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Imagens que não se conformam, Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2021); II Bienal do Barro, Museu do Barro, Caruaru, Brazil; Inundação, Museu do Pontal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Concerto para pássaros, Goethe-Institut, Salvador, Brazil; Manjar: beleza e devastação ou eterno retorno, Solar dos Abacaxis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Luto Tropical, Pasto Galeria, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2019); O Tempo e a Gravura no Espaço, FAMA Museu – Fábrica de Arte Marcos Amaro, Itu, Brazil; Busan Biennale: Divided we Stand, The Former Bank of Korea, Busan, South Korea; Você sonha com o quê? A Flor Mohole e outras fábulas, Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo, Brazil; Horse Takes King, with Laura Lima, Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (2018); Bestiário, Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Trienal Frestas de Artes, Sesc Sorocaba, Sorocaba, Brazil; A Room and a Half, with Laura Lima, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland; Nuit Blanche Monaco, Larvotto beach, Monaco; Depois do Futuro, Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2016); Tórrido, Espacio Odeón, Bogota, Colombia (2015); Materia, Casa Hoffmann, Bogota, Colombia (2014); Criaturas Imaginárias, Museu do Pontal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Redemptive glimpses from the future world, Musterzimmer, Berlin, Germany (2013); From The Margin to The Edge: Brazilian art and design in the 21st Century, Somerset House, London, England (2012); Nova Escultura Brasileira: herança e diversidades, Caixa Cultural Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2011); among others. Awards: Award Arte Sostenible ARCO Madrid Six Senses Ibiza, Feria ARCO, Madrid, Spain (2023); and shortlisted to Prêmio PIPA, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2018). Public collections: Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Instituto Inhotim, Brumadinho, Brazil; Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; e FAMA Museu – Fábrica de Arte Marcos Amaro, Itu, Brazil.

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