Sao Paulo -> Basel: Working at Copan / Trabalhando no Copan

Launch of the book project Working at Copan / Trabalhando no Copan in conjunction with the exhibition Working at Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (18.01. – 30.03.2008)


Thursday, January 17, 2008, 7pm
Kunsthalle Basel
Steinenberg 7 - CH-4051 Basel

January 2008, English/Portuguese
14 x 21 cm, 256 pages, 8 b/w illustrations, softcover.
Sternberg Press, Kunsthalle Basel, Extra City, Antwerp.
In collaboration with Exo experimental.org, São Paulo.
ISBN 978-1-933128-37-5
Available at Kunsthalle Basel: CHF 20.- / CHF 17.- for members of the Basler Kunstverein.

Working at Copan collects interviews with workers and employees at Edifà cio Copan, a landmark modernist architecture in the center of São Paulo. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer and completed in 1966, it became the largest residential building in Latin America. As a historical building and symbol of “vertical utopia”, it embodies an era of radical political and economic changes within Brazilian society. In his new book project, Berlin-based artist Peter Friedl deals with the work left over from the modern era. The questions and answers are concerned with the logic of the labor performed, the work process, the relationship of work and leisure, biographical details, memories, and plans for the future.

“Maybe someday the Niemeyer curves can be interpreted as a play with the contradictions of Brazilian society; more a playful offer, than an authority deciding the game’s outcome. In any case, the complexity of urban social reality in a city like São Paulo offers enough material to reinterpret the euphoric program of its modernistic showcase architecture. The urban jungle has all kinds of hidden ruins in store.”
Peter Friedl

Peter Friedl’s work has been exhibited world-wide including documenta X (1997) and documenta 12 (2007), the 48th Venice Biennale (1999), and 2nd International Biennial of Contemporary Art in Seville (2006). He has held solo exhibitions at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (1995); Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (1996); LACE, Los Angeles (1998); Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (1998); Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin (1999); Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz (1999); Living Art Museum, Reykjavà k (1999); Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg (2001); Chisenhale Gallery, London (2001); Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne-Lyon (2002); Institute for Contemporary Art, Cape Town (2002); Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen (2002); Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main (2004); Witte de With, center for contemporary art, Rotterdam (2004); Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis (2006). In 2006, the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) produced a retrospective exhibition, that traveled to Miami Art Central/Miami Art Museum and [mac] Musée d’art contemporain in Marseille in 2007. Peter Friedl is nominated for the 2008 Vincent Award in Amsterdam.




Working at Copan (2005 – 2007) was developed in the context of São Paulo S.A.: aesthetic, social and political practices in debate. exo experimental org., São Paulo www.exo.org.br

Supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture, Vienna and the Goethe Institut, São Paulo

Thanks to all the employees of the Edifà cio Copan who participated in the project.


For further information please follow this link
www.kunsthallebasel.ch/ausstellungen/vorschau?lang=en
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talk

Copanoramas
Ligia Nobre

Edifà cio Copan was designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in the 1950/60s. Located in the historical center of the city of São Paulo, this residential building is one of the most important symbols of the city - an active place for the co-existence of different social-cultural and economical levels. Copan is the site where the cultural organization exo experimental org. developed its main projects and activities (2002 - 2007). "Working at Copan" by Peter Friedl was developed in the context of the project São Paulo S.A., which focused on the debate related to contemporary aesthetic practices at the intersections of diverse disciplines and urban experiences. It considered the metropolis of São Paulo and its complexities as the epicenter of reflections, involving theoreticians, artists, as well as social and political agents.

friday, 18 January 2008, 9h30pm
museumsnacht
Kunsthalle Basel
Steinenberg 7 - CH-4051 Basel

More info
http://www.kunsthallebasel.ch/events/aktuell#243

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exo experimental org.
Edificio Copan
Av. Ipiranga 200 B2720 04620-010 São Paulo
SP Brasil
info@exo.org.br
www.exo.org.br


Kunsthalle Basel
Steinenberg 7 - CH-4051 Basel
Tel +41 61 206 99 00 - Fax +41 61 206 99 19
info@kunsthallebasel.ch
www.kunsthallebasel.ch