Galeria Fortes Vilaça has great pleasure in presenting new works by Tiago Carneiro da Cunha. In his third solo exhibition at the galley, the artist is showing three resin sculptures made in 2006 that refer both critically and ironically to themes of violence, sex and exoticism.

While Carneiro da Cunha's sculptures evoke abject human impulses, portraying bandits and drug dealers, they are also reminiscent of precious artifacts and kitsch ornaments. His works suggest this constant paradox, and by demanding an investigative approach from the onlooker, they avoid obvious interpretation.

All of the artist's work shows a strong geometric structure. The faceted surfaces of his sculptures recall the art of gem cutting and they raise a critical debate about the situation of an object of art as an object of desire and consumption. The ridged and cut surfaces are also a direct reference to the geometrical experiments of the early 20th century; the multiple viewpoints of cubist painting and the futurists' predilection for industrialized forms over organic ones.

For Carneiro da Cunha, art may be considered a defensive tool to combat the insanity of contemporary reality so frequently marked by violence and social inequality. According to the artist, his work reflects the urban jungle in which we live. We can find elements from this environment in his repertoire: petrified beings, beggars, bandits, skulls and sphinxes in the act of sex.

In May 2006, the artist showed the same sculptures, but in different colors and textures, in a solo exhibition at the Kate MacGarry Gallery, London. A 64 page 4-color catalogue of Carneiro da Cunha's works will be published for this exhibition. It includes an interview with the artist by Luiz Zerbini and graphic design by the British artist Liam Gillick.