Ruby City recently announced the co-commission and acquisition of Isaac Julien’s multi-screen installation, “Lina Bo Bardi – A Marvelous Entanglement.” The newest addition to the Linda Pace Foundation collection premiered at Victoria Miro in London on June 6 and runs there until July 27. The film, which intimately chronicles the life and legacy of the Brazilian architect and designer Lina Bo Bardi, explores through a contemporary lens such buildings as the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) and SESC Pompeia, and Teatro Oficina.
Bo Bardi, who was born in 1914, is considered today as one of the most influential figures in Brazilian Modernist architecture. The film, largely informed by anecdotal stories, showcases seven of the architect’s buildings, at each of which Julien stages a performance or intervention celebrating the historical influence of that particular work.
Bo Bardi wrote extensively on the social and cultural potential of design and architecture, which is brought to life through excerpts recited by Brazilian actresses Fernanda Montenegro and her daughter Fernanda Torres. Key to Bo Bardi’s design process was the notion that architecture has the potential to gather people together, much of which can be seen in her public spaces where social interaction and collaboration are encouraged. Julien’s film juxtaposes these ideas with the more minute details of Bo Bardi’s design vision by drawing attention to structural elements like the iconic winding staircases, crystal easels, and framing windows.
Julien’s work joins the permanent collection of the Linda Pace Foundation. In Linda Pace’s book, “Dreaming Red,” she described her first experience of meeting Julien during his ArtPace residency, saying, “I took great pleasure in his ideas, his British wit, his views of the world and his sweet disposition. I wanted to add not only “The Long Road to Mazatlanto” my collection but all of Issac’s work. This was a first for me. I believe that what Isaac calls his ‘painterly’ descriptions of the human experience make him one of the most interesting artists I’ve known.”
For more information, visit www.rubycity.org.