Thiago Szmrecsányi: Território Transitório

Território Transitório [Transitory Territory], the latest solo show by Thiago Szmrecsányi (b. 1966, USA), features a selection of multiples, sculptures and installations created since the 1990s in New York, where the artist lives and works. After a while without showing in Brazil, the artist, who spent his childhood in the country, returns with artworks produced mostly from materials found on the streets, or rejected by other artists with studios in the same building as his, in the Lower East Side.

In an attempt to reveal the multiple contexts and spaces which he inhabits, Thiago Szmrecsányi inserts everyday materials in his artistic process. As a result, he transforms discarded utilitarian objects through a series of actions that challenge their functional purpose, the way in which they operate and how they are made. In his re-articulation of the materials, he proposes alternative ways of being, seeing, or making.

For instance, in “I Handle” (2012) he utilizes car seat upholstery, steel cables and suspenders; “Mutatis Mutandis” (2014) employs automotive parts and photocopies; in “Common Thread” (2012) he incorporates canvas stretchers and hardware. According to the artist, “this proposed perspective of a new order is never fully realized in my work. My preference for the simple, quick and direct, and an emphasis on the process make most of my actions contingent and temporary”.

For this show, the artist considered Sé’s internal spaces and the gallery’s location in relationship with the pulsating rhythm of its surroundings. Using materials sourced from the streets, he was inspired by Praça da Sé (Sé Square) as a representative exhibition space. Both gallery and square “also work in cycles of marketing and selling of ideas and products. As transitory territories”.