On June 28, “The Spontaneous Perfumers,” Cadu’s first solo exhibition at the gallery, will open. The show will display 17 of the artist’s unpublished works – divided into six series – which contemplate his most recent artistic production. One of the characteristics of Cadu’s production is the dilution of authorship and the variety of languages explored, through partnerships with colleagues or materials. Here, we have some examples of these amalgams, commenting on time, esotericism, nature, and science.

Cadu presents Lemon trees of paradise for the ornithologist’s tunic, a set of paintings on paper, inspired by the Sufi poem The Language of Birds, by Farid Ud-Din Attar, from the 12th century, which depicts a journey of rite of passage and proof of dignity. The compositions are a dialogue between languages belonging to the realm of drawing and painting, bringing together oil paint with surfaces created from the marbling technique. The Islamic text inspires an intimate fable created by the artist, about the relationship between an ornithologist and three perfumers, suggesting a narrative and originating the title of the exhibition.

Tectonics is one of the series that make up the show, made up of sculptures that the artist produced after three years of accumulating layers of paint from a workshop in which his studio is located. Kiss to the Sea, a sound floor sculpture, made in partnership with Maneno Llinkarimachiq, produces musical notes through whistles, making possible various sonorous dialogues. In parallel, there is the installation Digital Gesamtkunstwerk in which the artist explores the technology of modeling and digital animation for the production of works of art, made together with Adriano Motta and with a soundtrack by Paulo Vivacqua.

Nácar is a series in which the pieces are named after the limestone structure that forms the shells of various species of bivalve mollusks. Mussel shells were laser engraved with drawings creating visual tales. Finally, Cadu presents Amphisbaena, which in Greek means “that goes in two directions. It is a sculpture made in co-authorship with jewelry maker and artist Virgilio Bahde, whose form encompasses animal, vegetal, and mineral elements.

Cadu holds a Bachelor’s degree in Painting from the School of Fine Arts at UFRJ, a Master’s degree (2005) and a PhD degree (2013) in Visual Languages from the same institution. He did his post-doctorate at PPGAV UFRJ in the research line Interdisciplinary Poetics. Plastic artist and research professor at PUC-Rio in the Department of Arts and Design where he coordinates LINDA – Interdisciplinary Laboratory in Nature, Design and Art. Cadu received the Iberê Camargo Scholarship, which granted him a residency program in 2001 at the London Print Studio. In 2008, he was a visiting artist at the University of Plymouth, invited by the Arts Council (UK). Among the numerous national and international exhibitions in which he has participated are the 7th Mercosur Biennial (2009), the 32nd Panorama of Brazilian Art (2012), the 30th São Paulo Biennial (2012), the 13th Istanbul Biennial (2013), the 4th End of the World Biennial (2014), the 35th Panorama of Brazilian Art and the 3rd Coimbra Biennial (2019). Cadu was a finalist for the Marcantonio Vilaça Award in 2011. He won the 2013 edition of the Pipa Award.