João Onofre (POR)
Untitled (Vulture in the Studio)
2002
DVD, 400 x 300 cm video projection, 9 min. loop, stereo sound
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The absurd can often be a revealing window into reality. Items out of context, people out of place heighten awareness and make deliberate reflection inevitable. João Onofre’s work Untitled (Vulture in the Studio) is just such a confrontation, offering a seemingly innocuous set – the artist’s studio – and imbuing it with an irrationality that leads the viewer into another realm of interpretation. At first, we see nothing but an empty studio, clear in its purpose, harmless in its implications. Slowly, we become aware of curious sounds infiltrating the space: ominous scratching, dragging steps. Casually expecting a human being, we are immediately set off balance by the appearance of an enormous vulture, displaced and frightened. The animal takes its time exploring the details of its confinement, pecking randomly at books and papers, jumping awkwardly from floor to shelf. As it balances itself tediously on its makeshift perch, it stabs violently at the paper trail left behind by the studio’s owner, wobbling uncomfortably, breathing heavily, unsettled by the restricted space. It attempts flight but is unable to really go anywhere, and we are left feeling rather sorry for this poor soul, trapped in a world that has no markers of its existence.
In Egyptian mythology, the vulture has been allegorized as a purifier, while in alchemy, the vulture is the symbol of sublimation, the relationship between the fixed aspects of life and the chaotic. This role of mediator is made even clearer in Onofre’s studio, as the bird tries to make sense of this world, our world of tangible limits and boundaries.
The overwhelming image of the impressive animal in turmoil, questioning and challenging its surroundings echoes the daily human struggle to deal with the constructed nature of our being. We are reminded that we are also active intermediaries between the ordered and the chaotic, and that despite our best efforts, we are often equally as frightened and displaced. But beyond the allegorical, beyond the symbolism, within the stifling borders of the artist’s studio, this great bird is also brought down to earth, back to reality. Out of its element, removed of its majestic context, it is after all just a bird, a bit too big, not very attractive, and very unsure of itself.
Biography
A main issue in the work of João Onofre (Portugal, 1976) work is the exploration of the relationship between visual and performing arts. Solo exhibitions of his work have been shown at Programa Art Center (México, MEX, 2002), Herzliya Museum of Art (Tel Aviv, ISR, 2002), P.S.1, MoMa Contemporary Art Center (New York, USA, 2002), Kunsthalle Wien - project space Karlsplatz (Vienna, AUT, 2003) and Museu do Chiado – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela (ESP, 2003). He has participated in a number of recent group exhibitions at major museums and festivals, such as the Tate Modern ( London, GBR), the 13 th Biennial of Sydney 2002 (AUS) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art ( Philadelphia, USA). He has received commissions from the Museé du Louvre and the Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris, FRA). João Onofre lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal.