Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel is pleased to present Twilight Zone, Tiago Carneiro da Cunha’s latest solo exhibition at the Galeria. The artist shows a group of brand new paintings in which he explores the repetition of twilight scenes by experimenting with a wide range of formal means. The title of the exhibition is loosely inspired by the memorable TV series of same name, whose dystopian tinted plot became a cult hit in the 1950s.

In this body of work the artist reaffirms his obsession with the painterly gesture while engaging an assortment of resources, such as palette knives, multiple brushes, and his own hand. These compositions build up from a focal point at the center of the canvas and expand in a process that includes improvisation, confusion and chance. Carneiro da Cunha designs coastal sceneries where people interact with the sun and the moon. Like the characters, these planets are also endowed with human qualities and emotions.

If the twilight occurs when the sky is painted by a host of lights and hues, the artist seeks to replicate this gradient effect by manipulating the paint in round brushstrokes across the canvas. Such manipulation allows him to balance the various levels of saturation and contrast within the compositions, lending apocalyptical nuances to the scenes.

Employing a very dry humor – a trademark of his work – the artist creates hybrid figures that seem to suffer or collapse according to a sort of final judgment carried out by the stars, moral actors in this eloquent narrative. Carneiro da Cunha’s interest in cartoon language becomes evident in pieces such as Luar e Zumbi and Destroyer, in which he uses caricature as a powerful visual translation tool of a particular fantastic or absurd situation – episodes that these days no longer seem so far fetched.

Last June, Tiago Carneiro da Cunha served as the inspiration and pivotal point in the group show A Burrice dos Homens, curated by Fernanda Brenner, at Bergamin & Gomide, São Paulo. On September 5th, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel will host a conversation between Carneiro da Cunha and fellow artist Jac Leirner.

Tiago Carneiro da Cunha was born in São Paulo, in 1973, and since 2001 has lived and worked in Rio de Janeiro. He holds a MFA from Goldsmiths College, London. Over the years he has had noteworthy solo and group shows, such as: Prospect 2013, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (San Diego, USA, 2013); Sobrenatural, Estação Pinacoteca (São Paulo, 2013); A Iminência das Poéticas, 30th Bienal de São Paulo (2012); Tiago Carneiro da Cunha & Klara Kristalova, SFMOMA (San Francisco, USA, 2011); Liverpool Biennial (2002); Sydney Biennial (2002). He also works as a curator, having organized the exhibitions: Law of the Jungle, Lehmann Maupin Gallery (New York, 2010); Drunkenmasters, Galeria Fortes Vilaça (São Paulo, 2004). His work is included in the following collections: MAM (Rio de Janeiro), MAR (Rio de Janeiro), Saatchi Collection (London), SFMOMA (San Francisco), among others.