Iole de Freitas is bringing three large-format sculptures to her show at Galeria Raquel Arnaud, along with seven smaller pieces, all done in steel. These works have required extensive research, calculation of attachment points, inclination angles and resistance, prompting the artist to create her own tools for working the steel plates used in these creations. Iole notes that steel, though unyielding and of industrial strength, can be molded to assume new shapes, surprising both the viewer and the artist herself with its possibilities. The text for the exhibition was written by critic and art historian, Elisa Byington.

Research into the occupation of architectural spaces in museums and galleries, one of the key focal points in the artist’s output, is evident in this show through spatial experiments that explore the relationship between the horizontality of the gallery’s volume, and the positioning of the works. At rest on the floor, they suggest an intense relationship of corporeity between themselves and the viewer.

In the other works on exhibit, the smaller sculptures, bends in flat steel emerge as central elements in the poetic force of these creations. In hand-brushed steel, the pieces reflect the diffuse light of the setting. In so doing, despite their density, they impart a sensation of lightness and movement, hallmarks of this artist’s oeuvre.

Iole de Freitas (1945, Belo Horizonte (MG), lives and works in Rio de Janeiro) has taken part in major international shows such as the 9th Biennale de Paris, 15th Bienal de São Paulo, 5th Mercosul Biennial and Documenta 12, in Kassel, Germany. In addition to individual and collective shows in various cities around the world, her works are found in major collections, notably, the MAC (Museu de Arte Contemporânea de São Paulo); MAM (Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo); Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói; Museu de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro; Museu do Açude, Rio de Janeiro; MAM (Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro); MAR (Museu de Arte do Rio); the Bronx Museum (USA); the Winnipeg Art Gallery (Canada); and the Daros Foundation (Switzerland).