At Hand's Reach

Singularity, utopia and politics in the work of Hélio Fervenza

Abstract

“Um deserto na palma da mão” [A desert in the palm of the hand] is a work that enables areflection about our time. The poetics of Brazilian artist Hélio Fervenza allows us to movethrough language, body and the other, creating utopian images intertwined in time, whichsupport a critical, ethical and inventive position before adversity. The desert metaphor resonatesin the gaps of meaning intrinsic to the human condition, and worsens during periods of intensechange and incoherence.

Included in the artist's book: “O + é deserto” [The + is desert] (2003), the chosen photographwas created at the turn of the 21st century and represents a striking feature of contemporaryBrazilian art in its investigative and innovative perspective. In dialogue with such picture are:parentheses, capsules, photographs, grains, words, deserts, all within reach of the hand. Assuch, the artist underlines the power of experience, of contagion, of care and micropolitics.