Alex Červený (1963, São Paulo, Brazil) opens his new solo show, Orbis sensualium pictus, curated by Ivo Mesquita, at Millan. Featuring a set of more than twenty recent paintings, as well as a pair of watercolors from the artist’s own collection, the exhibition is fueled by a myriad of narratives, from classical to contemporary, which reflect on the human condition on Earth, the coexistence with other beings and current environmental issues. 

The use of multiple techniques and media is a defining characteristic of Červený’s practice, though drawing and works on paper have always been its foundations. His recent survey exhibition at the Estação Pinacoteca in São Paulo, entitled Mirabilia, highlighted this aspect while covering three decades of his career. Orbis sensualium pictus, however, is the artist’s first show dedicated almost exclusively to canvas paintings. This is also his first solo at Millan, where Červený has brought together over twenty new paintings, including small and medium formats, as well as a large trio, including a canvas measuring 4m wide.

One of the striking features of the artist’s work is its narrative diversity. His paintings gather references from different universes —such as literature, music and his own memories— in scenarios brimming with characters and meticulously calligraphed texts, which, when displayed together, result in yet a whole new set of stories. Not surprisingly, the title of the exhibition, Orbis sensualium pictus, is taken from a 17th century textbook, often translated from Latin as “The Sensible World in Pictures”.

“Alex Červený is a great storyteller. Over his career, his artistic practice has produced a body of work comprising maps, landscapes, portraits, and travel stories, permeated with myths, heroes, tragedies, satire, adventurers, gods, nymphs, saints, and queens”, describes curator Ivo Mesquita in the exhibition text. “Drawing on his personal experience and his time, the artist’s narrative depictions take us on imaginary journeys on the surface of the paper or canvas through paintings, drawings, and prints, the patient and loving gathering of extensive repertoires.”

Achieving this level of detail, which fills the paintings with vibrant events, however, demands time. Born This Way (2019-2024), for instance, took several years to be completed. In fact, to Červený, the process is just as important as the final product, and he often starts to work again on certain pieces after months or even years.

Another piece attesting to the artist’s precise and careful work is As Lusíadas (2024). His largest painting to date (measuring 270 x 400 cm), it took over a year to complete and is “a dive into the feminine universe through the glossary of the characters mentioned by Camões in the Lusíadas”, as the artist explains. The work is part of a series of large-dimension paintings Červený has been making since 2018, first commissioned by the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain for exhibitions in Paris, Shanghai and Milan, and more recently by the 15th Gwangju Biennale, which opened in September in South Korea.

Ivo Mesquita points out yet another significant change in the artist’s work. “The works brought together in the present exhibition point to another moment in Červený’s production. While in the earlier works, we experienced an elliptic time between present and past in the images and references they brought together, now, time seems suspended,” he writes. “With a rarefied, dreamlike atmosphere, these works introduce a more introspective, reflective look from the artist on the human condition, time, and place.”

This feeling is most noticeable in the painting Náufrago [Castaway] (2023-2024). Interpretations of this image of a man stranded alone on an island can range from the deeply personal to those relating to climate change concerns. “It’s not just about loneliness or solitude. It’s also about a geographical limitation, about the stranglehold we’re beginning to experience on the planet we live on,” says the artist.