One of the most prevalent natural elements in the brightest quasars¹ in space is iron^(Fe). We can notice it in complex spectrometry graphs that reveal to more competent scientists the makeup of the matter that overflows from these galactic objects; gases and dust which, upon falling into a black hole, due to friction, create extraordinary explosions which, in the past, have been mistaken for stars. These extremely active and luminous galactic nuclei have enabled the chemical evolution of the universe and possibly even of life on Earth.

Iron^(Fe), the element favored by Amilcar de Castro^(AMC) to create his sculptures, came to our planet through “stardust” and meteorites and is present in everything from organisms to the infrastructure of the modern world, but in Minas Gerais, where ^(AMC) was born, iron^(Fe) seems to replace even rocks and earth itself.

Estrela (Star), ^(AMC)’s first and only copper piece, was made in 1951 and shown at the II São Paulo Biennial. After this successful experience with the precious alloy, all the artist would ever build his sculptures with would be iron^(Fe) — aside from a handful of experiments with glass and wood. Based on this sculpture and its title, which is not casual, I set out to build an exhibition concept that would represent the Minas Gerais artist’s creative Big Bang.

^(AMC) exalted the perception of space through a “gestalt” that is not limited to the phenomena visible or legible from an artistic or philosophical context: he managed to merge science and chemistry aesthetics with those of constructivism and the classical perspective, creating a “four-dimensional,”² “interactive,” and unique oeuvre.

Aligning with the philosophical theories or Merleau-Ponty, the intuitions enunciated by Lucio Fontana in 1946 in his White manifesto³, and the neo-concrete movement manifesto (1959), ^(AMC) creates enigmas which, like the monolith in Kubrick’s A space odyssey (1968), question the spectator regarding the “value” or “meaning” of a geometric figure that does not intend to represent “natural” shapes, but rather archetypes attributable to mathematical formulas that transcend reality. Thus, ^(AMC)’s work represents a unicum. The artist revolutionized contemporary sculpture, opening it up to endless possibilities of nonhierarchical points of view and anticipating, in Latin America, the research of artists such as Tony Smith and Richard Serra.

By putting forth an exhibition concept where sculpture is projected through its shade onto the two-dimensional realm of painting, my intention was to involve the public in a world of carefully organized signs and lines, liberating it for allegorical and philosophical interpretations, in a bid to elicit affinities between sculpture, painting, and the spectator.

Another aim of this exhibition is to highlight the importance of pictorial work as a core constituent of ^(AMC)’s artistic process, in continuity with sculptural work: two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional shapes, repetition of empty and full spaces, white backgrounds highlighting the presence of space, and brushstrokes permeated by vibrations that hark back to Chinese calligraphy in harmony with the Qi⁴.

What one attests from the contact with this body of work is the connection between ^(AMC) and iron^(Fe). Both withstand the test of time and do not deteriorate out in the elements, but rather incorporate them to transform their matter and meanings. Thus, in contact with ^(AMC)’s work, one can attempt to cast a gaze that isn’t historicized or aligned with preestablished formal theories. Here, let us look at it outdoors, enigmatic and dauntless under the open sky, the same sky that the element that determined its success came from: stardust.

 

 

(1) Quasars are active galactic nuclei fed by supermassive black holes that expel gases containing elements such as iron. Said iron, produced through nucleosynthesis in stars and supernovas, is emitted alongside other heavy elements and can be observed thanks to the characteristic spectral lines present in the radiation emitted.

(2) Four-dimensional art, or the “fourth dimension” in art, refers to the incorporation of time as a constituent element of the artwork, in addition to the three spatial dimensions (length, width, and depth). This concept was explored in cubism, which concurrently displays an object from different vantage points, connecting with physical and philosophical theories such as relativity. Artworks combining visual art, performance, and other media can also be considered four-dimensional.

(3) Art finds itself in a latent period. There is a strength that man cannot manifest. We express it in a literal way in this manifesto. That is why we call upon all men of science in the world, who know art is a vital need of the species, to direct part of their investigations towards the discovery of this luminous, malleable substance and of sound-producing instruments, enabling the development of four-dimensional art. Lucio Fontana, Buenos Aires, 1946.

(4) The Qi expresses the power of the cosmos (and, therefore, of any cosmological representation), the generative power of creation, formation, transformation, and regeneration, i.e., in other words, of all that exists and lives in visible and invisible forms and states.