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Twenty years after arriving in England, from Brazil, is a timely moment for an exhibition to survey the work of Glauce Cerveira. This exhibition spans ten years, from recent paintings that delve into the world of fashion to early work that engaged with tools and objects of general use. Across the spectrum of these works there is a certainty about bringing the subject directly into the viewer’s space. We have to take part; we are not allowed to keep our distance. How this is achieved involves both the language and the mysteries of how paintings work.
Cerveira delights in playing with this language, whether it is her invasion of all areas of the colour spectrum or her masterful use of glass balls. This work is full of questions and therefore it is no surprise that an exploration of digital imagery joins her production in a seamless fashion. This creates a fascinating dialogue between the one-off, hand-made and the machine multiple, where she dares one to surpass the other.
Cerveira is interested in what lengths we go to in order to feel wanted, special or to be accepted. The paintings ponder the battle between the persona and the self. In the painting that lends its title to the exhibition, ‘The Things We Do For Love’, a small part of the person is revealed while the focus is kept on what she is wearing. The persona has become more prominent than the self. She turns fashion into subject matter and then uses it as a springboard for questioning contemporary behaviour. ‘I want to depict the role of the persona in front of the self and how much of it (the self) survives the compromises we make’.
A striving for quality wins out and the Brazilian Embassy is more than pleased to celebrate the work of a home-grown talent.
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