Português
Since the 1970s, Vera has been avidly active in the Porto Alegre cultural scene, being among the founders of Grupo Nervo Óptico (1976–1978) — together with Carlos Asp, Carlos Pasquetti, Clóvis Dariano, Mara Alvares and Telmo Lanes —, from Espaço N.O. (1979–1982) and also from the Galeria Obra Aberta (1999–2002). In 2005, she instituted a foundation dedicated to the diffusion, preservation and dissemination of contemporary art, which bears her name and which she has chaired ever since.
Vera Chaves Barcellos has a degree in Music from the then Instituto de Belas Artes de Porto Alegre, where she also attended the Plastic Arts course for two years. In the early 60s, she started to dedicate herself to engraving, where she started in institutions in the Netherlands and England. In the early 70s, she began to use photography in her work, and went from an aesthetic still linked to modernism to a more conceptual work. In 1975, she deepened her knowledge of graphic techniques and photography at Croydon College by being awarded a grant from the British Council. Many of her works aim to discuss the yields and limits of the photographic language itself, by manipulating with painting and using not only their own images, but appropriate ones from the media. From the end of the 1980s, she incorporated objects into photographic images, performing a series of installations since then.
The artist held numerous exhibitions in Brazil and abroad. In 1976 she joined the group of artists representing Brazil at the 37th Venice Biennale with the work Testarte. She participated in four São Paulo Biennials, at the 5th Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial (2005), in the exhibition “Anos 70 – Arte como Questão” (2007), at Instituto Tomie Ohtake, and in the exhibition “MAM na Oca” (2006) , as well as group exhibitions in Germany, Belgium, Korea, France, Netherlands, England, Japan, United States and Australia. In 2007, Cultural Santander de Porto Alegre made a retrospective of her career with the exhibition “O Grão da Imagem — A Journey through the Poetics of Vera Chaves Barcellos”, and, in 2009, “Imagens em Migração”, a comprehensive exhibition of her work is presented at MASP, in São Paulo. In 2017, she participates in the exhibition “Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985”, inaugurated at the Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), which was shown the following year at the Brooklyn Museum (New York) and at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo.
On Ice
Vera Chaves Barcellos, Flavio Pons and Claudio Goulart Photographic series and performance 105 × 105 cm Ed. 1/5
On Ice
Vera Chaves Barcellos, Flavio Pons and Claudio Goulart Photographic series and performance 105 × 105 cm Ed. 1/5
On Ice
Vera Chaves Barcellos, Flavio Pons and Claudio Goulart Photographic series and performance 105 × 105 cm Ed. 1/5
On Ice
Vera Chaves Barcellos, Flavio Pons and Claudio Goulart Photographic series and performance 105 × 105 cm Ed. 1/5
On Ice
Vera Chaves Barcellos, Flavio Pons and Claudio Goulart Photographic series and performance 105 × 105 cm Ed. 1/5
On Ice
Vera Chaves Barcellos, Flavio Pons and Claudio Goulart Photographic series and performance 105 × 105 cm Ed. 1/5
On Ice — Cartaz Nervo Óptico n.11
Flavio Pons, Claudio Goulart and Vera Chaves Barcellos Offset printing 34 × 23 cm
O Estranho Desaparecimento de VCB
Digital printing on photographic paper Series of 9 B&W photographs, 24 × 18 cm each Ed. 1/5
Pequena Estória de um Sorriso
Artist’s book Photocopy and collage on paper 14 pages, 28 × 30 cm each Ed. 3
Retratos
Photography
Polyptych of 8 photographies
Políptico de 8 fotografias
Impressão sobre papel fotográfico
Imagens horizontais: 23,5 × 35 cm
Imagens verticais: 35 × 23,5 cm
Epidermic Scapes
View of the exhibition “Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985”, 2018 Brooklyn Museum, New York
Epidermic Scapes
View of the exhibition “Imagens em Migração”, 2009 MASP, São Paulo
Ciclo e Testartes
Espaço N.O., Porto Alegre
Ciclo
Artist’s book Acrylic box with 29 serigraphy blades 33.40 × 33.40 cm Ed. 50
Testarte — Que Há Por Detrás?
Analogic photography Polyptych of 7, 60 × 50 cm each This work accompanies a set of letters written by the participating public who were invited to write what they saw behind the proposed images.
Testart I
Artist’s book Offset printing 24 × 16 cm Ed. 500
Testarte VII
Offset sheet with questions: Who is it? Where is it? Where does he come from? Where is he going?
21 × 29.5 cm
Analog photography
35 × 29.9 cm
Muros, da série “Testarte”
Per(so)nas
Digital printing on paper Polyptych of 18 photographies, 40 × 30 cm each
Testarte VIII – O Cofre
Postal card with the question: What's inside this chest? 10 × 15 cm
Testarte VIII – O Cofre
Postal cards with answers 10 × 15 cm
Testarte VIII – O Cofre
View of the exhibition “O Grão da Imagem”, 2007 Santander Cultural, Porto Alegre
Manequins de Düsseldorf
Color photography Polyptych of 27, 30 × 20 cm each
Da Capo
Artist’s book Offset printing 12.5 × 34 × 1 cm Ed. 130
Atenção I, 1980/2007
2007 version: B&W Photography and electronic panel 1980 version: Artist's book Photocopy on paper
Epidermic Scapes
Minal pigment on Enhanced Matte paper
Polyptych de 20, 25 × 30 cm each
Ed. 3
Em Busca da Cabeça, Em Busca do Coração
Installation Polyptych of 14 photographies 100 × 50 cm each Wooden box with coal 27 × 228 × 85 cm Polyptych of 14 photographies 35 × 40 cm cada Collection of Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro
The Birds, da série “De Pelìcula”
Inkjet printing on paper Polyptych of 10, 13 × 19 cm each
Pequeno Discurso Amoroso, da série “De Pelìcula”
Color photography Polyptych of 7, 73 × 102.5 cm each
Da União e da Cisão
Photography on silver gelatin 60.6 × 21.9 cm
Per gli Ucelli
Installation consisting of bowls, lights and sounds of nature “Projeto Octógono Arte Contemporânea”, 2010 Pinacoteca do Estado, São Paulo
Per gli Ucelli
Installation consisting of bowls, lights and sounds of nature “Projeto Octógono Arte Contemporânea”, 2010 Pinacoteca do Estado, São Paulo
Momento Vital
Artist’s book Photocopy on paper 29.70 × 21 × 1 cm Ed. 48
Estudo para Dissolução da Imagem
Photography on silver gelatin 35.50 × 25.50 cm
Maras Sombras
Photography on silver gelatin 56 × 29 cm
VXV
Photography Triptych, 18 × 48 cm each Ed. 5
L’Intervallo Perduto (homenagem a Gillo Dorfles)
Polyptych of 28 photos (20 × 30 cm each), 12’’ TV, acetate sign, voile and aluminum pedestal Ed. 2/3
L’Intervallo Perduto (homenagem a Gillo Dorfles)
Installation detail Polyptych of 28 photographies, 20 × 30 cm each
Definição de Arte
DVD video Duration: 24’ Ed. 5
One Way, Two Ways
Photography on silver gelatin 21 × 70 cm
Gestos
Photography on silver gelatin 70 × 50 cm
Memórias
Print on cotton paper Polyptych of 20, 18 × 24 cm each
Memória de Barcelona (P&B)
Digital photography Polyptych of 10, 20 × 30 cm cada Ed. 3
Memória de Barcelona (Cor)
Digital photography 7 images of 20 × 30 cm and 7 images of 30 × 20 cm Ed. 3
Keep Smilling
Photography on silver gelatin 33.5 × 33.5 cm
Keep Smilling 2
Photography on silver gelatin 33.5 × 33.5 cm
Maras
Photography 63 × 47.5 cm Ed. 3