Mano Penalva: National Balneary

From the commercial vigor of the cities to the private-public space, Mano Penalva is interested in the aesthetics of street life and the Brazilian cultural composition process, especially how the relationship between home and street influences our values and habits.

His work includes appropriations, in which he develops a study of the inserted object in the culture, carrying out a long collection of common items found on the street and at popular markets. By creating the works, he subverts the value of everyday objects, proposing new aesthetic groupings. It is often noticed textiles interferences in his work, such as raffia bags, embroidery and appliques, reinforcing domesticity in contrast to the transitory and ephemeral aspect of the street. To create the objects, without leaving the plastic concern, the artist seeks to highlight critical points of culture and behavior, often emphasizing the shape. Mano walks towards “gambiarra” (work done with improvisation), learning which the artist entitles an urban technology, where you can make do with little – a kind of reuse of everyday elements, conceived from a personal collection that leave their original functions behind and become sculptures and forms through a new proposal.