Josephine Baker & Le Corbusier in Rio - a transatlantic affair
15th April to 17th August
MAR - Museu de Arte do Rio
Rio de Janeiro/RJ
The Museu de Arte do Rio presents the group exhibition “Josephine Baker e Le Corbusier no Rio – um caso transatlântico” (Josephine Baker and Le Corbusier in Rio – a transatlantic affair), which has artworks, curated by Inti Guerrero and Carlos Maria Romero.
In 1929, Rio de Janeiro witnessed the meeting between the renowned architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965) and the famous dancer, actress and singer Josephine Baker (1906-1975), both considered great symbols of the 20th century modernism and aesthetics. They landed in the old port (in front of the Museum), sharing a long route on transatlantic ships.
At first sight, their encounter may represent two opposed ways of seeing the body in modern times. Le Corbusier is the synonym of modern architecture’s great paradigm, where the body obeys design and urbanism’s functionalism. Josephine, on the other hand, as the first black woman in show biz, brought down dancing stereotypes with a naked body, in a choreography of wild, anarchic movements. But are they so distinct from one another? Would not they actually be nurturing each other?
Even though this exhibition includes material and works referring to the Baker-Le Corbusier meeting, it is not a biographical, historical curatorship. On the contrary, it is a constellation of documents, contemporary works of visual arts, dance, performance, cinema and general contributions from popular culture.
One of the rooms in the show, created as a theatre like those inside transatlantic ships, is the space where performances and actions will take place, making up one of the exhibition’s central axis. Works and documents about the Porn Art Movement and the underground actor Mario Montez are part of the exhibition. They are modern examples of the aesthetic created by Josephine.
Artistas participantes:
Adolf Loos, Ana Borralho e João Galante, Ana Maria Tavares, Antonia Baehr, As Tequileras do Funk, Cármen Miranda, Faustin Linyekula, Cristiano Mascaro, Djibril Diop Mambéty, D’Escoffier, Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, Flávio de Carvalho, Georges Valmier, Grace Jones, Josephine Baker, Judith Braun, Kasper Akhoj, Laercio Redondo, Le Corbusier, Lennie Dale, Ligia Manuela Lewis, Lili Reynaud Dewar, Liliana Ângulo, Marcel Gautherotl, Marcela Levi, Matheus Rocha Pitta, Ney Matogrosso, Oscar Niemeyer, Patrizio di Massimo, Paul Colin, Steven Cohen, Trajal Harrel, Vera Manteiro.
