Ilusões / Ilusiones / Illusions
Casa Daros, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This exhibition revealed a view of the ambiguous and the complex, of spaces that resist interpretation, oscillating freely between supposed reality and so-called illusion, filled with fictions and projections, and defying any more detailed definition or categorization.

The subject of “illusion” (from the Latin “illudere”, meaning “to deceive, to fool”) is approached with humor and playfulness: as supposedly no more than an optical effect (Mauricio Alejo); as an elaborate interplay of symbols, signifiers and the signified in perception theory (Luis Camnitzer); as mental deceit or disappointment (Leandro Erlich, Liliana Porter); as a social, political, cultural, religious, marketing, or media phenomenon (Teresa Serrano, José Toirac, Leidy Chavez & Fernando Pareja), and as ambiguity, a pure paradox full of seemingly Dadaist absurdity (José Damasceno, Los Carpinteros).

This exhibition encouraged viewers to widen their conscious perception, think, and develop a deeper understanding that would sharpen their ability to discern how the meaning of reality relates to illusion through additional far-reaching insights.

Curators: Hans-Michael Herzog, Katrin Steffen