Daniel de Paula: SITU#2 – Testemunho

Created in 2015 by curator Bruno de Almeida, the project SITU invites Latin-American artists to create temporary and site-specific works for Galeria Leme, keeping in mind both a relationship with the building as with the contiguous public space. By the one hand, the choice of the gallery for hosting SITU was motivated by its architectonic project, by Brazilian Paulo Mendes da Rocha (Pritzker Prize, 2006) with Metro Arquitetos Associados, and, on the other, due to its complex history of construction, demolition and extension, which can be taken as a representation of the evolutionary processes in the city of São Paulo. The curatorship invites artists whose researches revolve around issues like architecture and urban space; the focus on Latin-America can be explained by the fact that its residents have a particular understanding of space and how the body occupies it, derived from the complexity of urban and social projects in the region.

For its second edition, guest artist Daniel de Paula (b. 1987, USA) created Testemunho [Record], an installation that is in relation both with the gallery as with the public space, resulting from a reflection about the history of the gallery and of its urban context. de Paula’s project gathers rocks collected in geotechnical surveys, which are used in civil engineering to obtain geologic data needed to determine the proper kind of foundation for the construction. This material comes from rock layers sedimented through millennia and forms a sort of timeline from now until periods prior to humanity’s history. The artist used samples from surveys executed for public works for urban mobility in the State of São Paulo, major displacement axis and important factor of the urban infrastructure. By gathering elements that come from all over the city on the outside of the gallery, the artist opposes the gradual geological time that formed Earth’s crust to the accelerated time of construction and expansion of cities.

Daniel de Paula lives and works between São Paulo and Itapevi. He presented solo shows at White Cube Gallery, São Paulo, Brazil (2014); Galeria Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France (2013); Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2011), among others. His group shows include
”Permanências e destruições”, Oi Futuro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2015); “La parte que no te pertenece”, Galeria Maisterravalbuena, Madrid, Spain (2014); “Onsite”, Southend- on-Sea, England (2014); “Open Cube”, White Cube Gallery Mason’s Yard, London, England (2013); “Processos públicos”, Paço das Artes, São Paulo, Brazil (2012), and others.
He was awarded the Acquisition Prize of the Programa de Exposições do Centro Cultural São Paulo, Brazil (2011) and the EDP Prize for Arts, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil (2010).