SPW has the pleasure to present the work of Pará born (Brazil) artist Berna Reale. Berna is one of the finalists of the 2019 Pipa Prize for her work.
Berna Reale is a Pará performer with an extensive production of installations. Its brand is to occupy public spaces with images and dense evocations, such as the image that illustrates this post. His work is internationally recognized. Bern is a criminal expert and her central theme is violence in its multiple manifestations, a critical approach to the material and symbolic aspects of violence and the silencing processes present in the most diverse instances of society.
She won the Pipa Online (popularly voted) in 2012, and was nominated twice for the top prize (2013 and 2014) before reaching this year’s end. Born 54 years ago in Belém (PA), where she lives and works, Bern addresses different aspects of violence in state-society relations, whether using her own body or designing facilities. For the prize show, she set up the installation “Terra without fasting”, made up of five children’s coffins, decorated with themes such as ice cream and brigadeiros.
– The installation refers to this death, real and symbolic, of our youth – emphasizes Bern, who is also a criminal expert in Belém. – It must be remembered that most of the Brazilian prison population is between 18 and 29 years old, who does not spend a year. day when we do not bury a child because of the violence. It is like a wake of this sweetness of childhood. Present at international exhibitions, such as the 2015 Venice Biennale, the artist will inaugurate the individual “Festa” on August 17, at the Viaduto das Artes, in Belo Horizonte (MG).
– I like to take my work to the streets to create immediate contact with the public. I use easily identifiable images, I never wanted to do a very cerebral work. Although because of my profession I am in galleries and institutions, I cannot deny that these are privileged spaces. I want to connect with those outside of this medium.
In February 2016 Bern publicly denounced assaults suffered by her at her workplace, the Belém Criminalistics Center. To learn more about Bern Reale visit her website or read an excellent article about her work published by Galeria Nara Roesler and El Parents.
Images: Quando todos calam (2009); Limite zero (2012); Terra sem jejum (2019).
Source: O Globo