Manoela Medeiros’ Poeira Varrida [Swept Dust] combines sculptures and excavations on walls examining the ambiguous relationship between construction and ruin. The artist directly intervenes in the architecture of the space, creating narratives and games on proportion, subtracting and shifting material from the walls in a positive-negative dynamics.

In Vale, Manoela makes diagonal and parallel cuts over six cement poles. These cuts refer to rubber tree trunks, transforming this type of excavation into a sign of the forest, while bringing it to an urban environment. Declive is a ladder positioned along the wall with half of its steps made in concrete with a real-scale configuration, whereas the other half is only outlined by the excavation. In a comparable movement, in Território, she creates a geometrical mural sketch with a modernist influence, partially excavated and partially made out of cement pieces. The pattern, created out of small cuts on the wall, refers to a Cartesian project, whereas the cement triangles, full of imperfections, soften this geometry. The mural is positioned along one of the gallery walls, and its edge coincides with the main floor of the building, creating, thus, the illusion of continuity. Fronteira is an excavation comprised of two vertical lines on the wall that are disjointedly projected from the floor. A concise and powerful image in this exhibition built on interspace semantics.

Manoela Medeiros (1991) lives and works both in Rio de Janeiro (her hometown) and Paris. She has a degree in Graphic Design at PUC-Rio (2009) She also studied at École Des Beaux Arts (Paris, 2012), at IADE-Creativity University (Lisbon, 2013) and at EAV Parque Lage (Rio de Janeiro, 2009 and 2015). Manoela is the co-founder of Atomos, an independent space (Rio de Janeiro, 2016) and has been actively participating in different exhibitions, salons and residences in Brazil and abroad. Among her solo shows, we can highlight: Instruções para a construção de uma ruína, Casamata (Rio de Janeiro, 2015); é. é. é., Projeto Zip’Up (São Paulo, 2015). Among her collective shows: 62. Salon de Montrouge, Le Beffroi (Montrouge, 2017); Hallstatt, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel | Galpão (São Paulo, 2016); Arte Pará, Fundação Romulo Maiorana (Belém, 2016); In Between, Bergamin & Gomide (São Paulo, 2016); Quarta-feira de cinzas, EAV Parque Lage (Rio de Janeiro, 2015); Verbo, Galeria Vermelho (São Paulo, 2015). In 2017, Manoela will have a solo show at Double V Gallery (Marseille) and participate the 67th edition of the Jeune Création award at Galeria Thaddaeus Ropac (Paris).