STEVEN ALEXANDER J O U R N A L: Gonçalo Ivo

Showing posts with label Gonçalo Ivo. Show all posts

31.8.20

GONÇALO IVO: New Paintings

A few magnificent new paintings by Gonçalo Ivo from his Cosmogenies series. After an extended residency at the Joseph & Anni Albers Foundation during the advent of the pandemic, Gonçalo is now working in isolation at his studio compound in Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro.

Gonçalo Ivo, 2020, oil on linen, 140cm x 300cm

Gonçalo Ivo, 2020, oil on linen, 300cm x 100cm

9.9.18

GONÇALO IVO: New Paintings

Gonçalo Ivo, 2018, oil on linen, 180 x 120 cm

As artists get older, we often tend to drill down into a tighter and tighter focus, exploring increasingly minute nuances within a particular motif or idiom. For Brazilian painter Gonçalo Ivo, however, this way of working has never been of interest. Undoubtedly the most prolific painter I know, Gonçalo commands a visual vocabulary that is almost infinite, a creative energy that seem inexhaustible. He has inherited and inhabited deep affinities with the most fundamental human impulses to develop a life and a body of work that is infused with extreme sensuality, and that constantly reminds us of the potential richness of existence.

Gonçalo Ivo, 2018, oil on linen, 180 x 120 cm

See more of Gonçalo Ivo's work HERE, including his magnificent Lamento series from 2012.
Read a wonderful interview with Gonçalo by Julie Karabenick HERE.
And read my essay about his work from the book: Gonçalo Ivo: Oratório HERE.

Gonçalo Ivo, Lamento (installation, Rio de Janeiro), 2012

Gonçalo Ivo, Lamento, 2011, oil on linen, 240 x 120 cm

1.12.14

GONÇALO IVO at Galerie Boulakia, Paris

CONGRATULATIONS Gonçalo - wish I could be there with you!

GONÇALO IVO - Paintings

December 1, 2014 - January 5, 2015

Galerie Boulakia, Paris

Gonçalo Ivo, 2014, oil on canvas

20.5.14

GONÇALO IVO at Laura Marsiaj in Rio

Gonçalo Ivo at Galeria Laura Masiaj

Rio de Janeiro

June 4 - July 9, 2014

CONGRATULATIONS Gonçalo!! - I wish I could be there.

12.10.13

GONÇALO IVO at Paulo Darzé, Bahia, Brazil

Gonçalo Ivo, Las Parcas, 2012, 2m x 2m, oil on canvas

I have just received an exquisite catalogue from my dear friend, and great Brazilian painter, Gonçalo Ivo, documenting his exhibition of new work at Paulo Darzé Galeria in Bahia, Brazil (through November 2, 2013). This extensive group of paintings, mostly completed in the months following the death of the artist's father, the renowned poet Lêdo Ivo, and after several pilgrimages to Spain and Greece, attest to Gonçalo's unique ability to evoke a deep sense of loss and longing through objects of extreme sensuality and beauty.

Gonçalo Ivo, Las Parcas - Janelas Noturnas em Hydra, 2013, 2m x 2m, oil on canvas

Gonçalo Ivo, Contemplaçoes - Hydra, 2013, 2m x 1.5m, oil on canvas

Gonçalo Ivo, Contraponto Å Aurora, 2013, 2m x 1.5m, oil on canvas

Gonçalo Ivo, Contemplaçoes - Uma Pintura de José de Ribera, 2012, 1.4m x 3m, oil on canvas

Gonçalo Ivo, Estrela do Oriente, 2012, 1.5m x 1.5m, oil and oxidized silver leaf on canvas

Gonçalo Ivo, Lamento do Mar do Norte, 2013, 35 x 24 cm, oil, tempera & silver leaf on linen

Gonçalo Ivo, Frontal de Santa Maria, 2013, 20 x 20 cm, watercolor on paper

Gonçalo Ivo, Comtemplaçao do Mar, 2013, 20 x 20 cm, watercolor on paper

Gonçalo Ivo in his studio, Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2013 (image courtesy Gonçalo Ivo)

Exhibition images from the Paulo Darzé website

14.7.12

GONÇALO IVO: Lamento

Gonçalo Ivo, Lamento, 2011, 240 x 120 cm, oil on linen

Last week at Galeria Anita Schwartz in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian painter Gonçalo Ivo presented a 3-day exhibition of his Lamento series, comprised of 21 paintings from the past two years. The Event (with a capital E) celebrated the publication by ContraCapa of his new monograph, Oratorio, which features these works and many other major recent paintings, as well as essays by myself and three other writers, with English, French & Portuguese translations. See more about the book HERE.

As glorious as these photographs of the installation are, I must say they do not fully capture the sumptuous color and the physical presence of these remarkable paintings. Gonçalo continues to achieve a weightless luminosity combined with a density of surface, making objects that pulsate and breathe with the pure substance of life. They are deeply emotional works that, like a great moaning Delta blues, evoke a sense of loss and longing through magnificent beauty.

Gonçalo Ivo, Lamento, installation panorama, 2012

Gonçalo Ivo, Lamento, installation detail, 2012

photos © Gonçalo Ivo

27.3.12

GONÇALO IVO at Galerie Boulakia, Paris

CONGRATULATIONS and very best wishes to Gonçalo Ivo on the opening of his exhibition of new paintings at Galerie Boulakia in Paris, March 31. The show runs through May 15 -- what better way to welcome springtime in Paris.

24.2.12

GONÇALO IVO: New Monograph

Gonçalo Ivo: Oratório

Essays in English, French & Portuguese by

Steven Alexander, Edgar Lyra, Luiz Eduardo Meira de Vasconcellos, Marcelin Pleynet

Published by

Contra Cappa Livraria LTDA, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

February 2012

260 pages, hard cover, profusely illustrated

ISBN: 978-85-7740-099-7

I am extremely pleased and honored to be a contributor to this magnificent new book on the work of Brazilian painter Gonçalo Ivo. It focuses primarily on work from the past three years, an incredibly prolific and important period in the development of this artist's deep body of work. The book itself is exquisite -- gorgeous reproductions, beautiful paper -- and features many new paintings that have never been shown, along with monumental scale paintings from his 2010 exhibition at Galeria Anita Schwartz in Rio. You can read my essay HERE.

Gonçalo Ivo, Oratorio da Noite, 2010, 260 x 660 cm, oil on linen

Gonçalo Ivo, Santa Maria de Taull, 2009, 260 x 650 cm, oil on linen

Gonçalo Ivo in his studio, Teresopolis, Rio de Janeiro, 2010

11.5.11

GONÇALO IVO: New Work

Gonçalo Ivo, 2011, 200 x 200 cm, oil on linen

Gonçalo Ivo, 2011, 200 x 150 cm, oil on linen

Gonçalo Ivo, 2011, 200 x 200 cm, oil on linen

Gonçalo Ivo, 2011, 200 x 200 cm, oil & mixed media on canvas

Gonçalo Ivo, 2011, 240 x 120 cm, oil on linen

Read more about Gonçalo Ivo's work HERE -- and visit the artist's website HERE.

13.8.10

BRAZIL - Part 6
In the Studio at Teresopolis

View from the studio, Teresopolis

Up in the mountains, about 85 km north of Rio, are the secluded farm, home and studios of Gonçalo Ivo -- where I was most privileged to live and work for 3 amazing weeks. It is a lush and magical environment that has been shaped over the years into a utopian engine for optimum creative production. Here are a few images: