Nara Roesler São Paulo is pleased to present Cássio Vasconcellos: A picturesque voyage through Brazil, a solo show by the artist, curated by Ana Maria Belluzzo. The show brings together 19 new photographs taken by the artist over the last three years, the result of incursions into the vestiges of the Atlantic forest in São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, and Rio de Janeiro. The exhibition provides an in-depth look at this biome, which is currently one of the most threatened in the country. Each photograph in the exhibition is a single unique edition, with no print run.

The title of the exhibition refers to the first known records of Brazilian forests, begun by the French aristocrat and archaeologist Count de Clarac (1777-1847), in his drawing Virgin forest of Brazil, engraved in metal by Claude François Fortier (1775-1835), in 1822 The drawing served as a reference for the so-called “traveling artists” of the 19th century, members of the French Artistic Mission, such as Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768-1848) who, on his return to France, published Picturesque and historical journey to Brazil (1834-1839).

Unlike the traveling artists, Cássio Vasconcellos needs to find the right frame. “The 19th century artists took a scene that they could then correct in the studio, for example removing a palm tree that was getting in the way of the image”, he compares. “The forest is very difficult to photograph. It's a tremendous visual mess, because there are so many planes. It's a lot of information all at once. And it's very easy to fall into banality. It takes many kilometers of walking to find the perfect angle, and it often takes me a whole day to take a picture”, he concludes.

In the text accompanying the exhibition, Ana Maria Belluzo points out that: “the artist refines values inherent in photography, accentuates and transforms records of reality, which are interpreted using digital editing resources (...) the image gains expressive content by appearing coated with plastic, graphic and tactile dimensions”, she observes. “Under the command of the writing of light, the luminous rays emitted by the vegetation reach us. Backlit views introduce the subject/observer to the interior of the forest. On the other hand, the blurriness of the background of the photos and the hazy appearance of the plants in focus tend to recreate enigmatic, even fantastic scenarios. They evoke dreamlike sensations. The vision of nature escapes us. The extreme clarity of the magnified details also insinuates the unreality of the landscape. Images transport us to a fantastic, sometimes fantastical world”.