December 2005For the first time, the Louvre pyramid becomes an exhibition place displaying the monumental installation of a contemporary artist. On the occasion of the Year of Brazil in France, the Louvre has commissioned a piece by Brazilian artist Tunga, to serve as a strong and spectacular beacon radiating the creativity of contemporary Brazilian art, and to provide a counterpart to the exhibition Frans Post, Brazil at the court of Louis XIV. Born in 1952, Tunga (Antonio Jos de Barros Carvalho e Mello Mouro) trained as an architect and is considered as one of Brazil's major contemporary artists. In France, his works have been presented at the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume in 1992 and in 2001. Exploring the intersection of performance, poetry, installation and sculpture, he uses fiction and myth to compose pieces whose freedom and exuberance often call to mind the Baroque era. This piece is a sculpture hanging from a crossbeam affixed to the central column of the space under the pyramid. The "soft" elements hang from the joining of the three main iron rods: hammocks, braids, masses of hair, in which "hard" elements are trapped, such as skulls, or the heads of celebrated statues from the Museum's collections. Exuberant and ever-evolving, Tunga's work bears the hallmark of Brazil's vivid history, social structure, culture and natural environment. His pieces contemplate the link between science and art and reflect the vastness, mystery and effervescence of his homeland.
