Street Collection : Zhanna Kadyrova

“Street Collection”, the first exhibition in Brazil by Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova, is the result of her participation in the Residency Program promoted by Baró. Kadyrova landed in São Paulo on January 15 of this year and has since been conducting intensive research and exploration through the city’s streets in search of elements that often go unnoticed and that could be reassembled into poetic and precise mosaic sculptures.

Zhanna was born in Brovary, Ukraine, in 1981 and currently lives and works in Kiev, Ukraine. Her work spans various media, including photography, painting, drawing, video, and performance, but it is her mosaic sculptures that have brought her worldwide recognition. Mosaic is a language deeply rooted in Ukraine, with origins in Soviet tradition. By employing this language, Kadyrova’s work acquires historical, political, and social significance, further enhanced by her use of simple, everyday materials such as broken ceramic tiles, cement, wood, and stone. In 2013, she won the Main Award of the PinchukArtCentre Prize, the most prestigious in her country, and also participated in the Venice Biennale.

For the exhibition at Baró, the artist presents an installation in the gallery’s entrance hall featuring mosaic sculptures of clothing, mannequins, and garment racks made of wood and traditional ceramic tiles that she sourced from shops and antique dealers in downtown São Paulo. Contemplating the patterns and prints on these tiles reminded her of vintage clothing, thus inspiring the theme of the exhibition.

Also as a result of the residency, Kadyrova produced the pieces “Diamond” and “Firewood”, which will be on display at the gallery’s stand during SP-Arte 2014 at the São Paulo Biennial Pavilion.