María Fernanda Cardoso: “EMU”
May 31 – June 30, 2007
María Fernanda Cardoso’s name stands out strongly within the contemporary art milieu. Cardoso’s work has been included in some of the most important private and public collections including the Tate Gallery in London, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Miami Art Museum, the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, the Cisneros Collection, and the Daros Collection amongst others. In addition, her work has been exhibited in some of the most prestigious museums around the world such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Reina Sofia in Madrid. Moreover, Cardoso participated in the 50th International Venice Biennale in 2003.
Cardoso, who has been living in Australia for over a decade, will be exhibiting her most recent body of work titled Emu, consisting of a selection of artworks made from native Australian bird feathers which clearly manifest the artist’s fascination with all aspects of the natural world. In addition, the artist will be presenting two installations intended as public art, constructed of durable materials such as Teflon and nylon tubes that bring to mind Jesus Soto’s penetrables or kinetic interactive sculptures.
Cardoso’s artistic production is characterized by the use of unconventional materials. Her works, all meticulously done, evidence her fascination with nature and the complex relationship of human beings to it. The artist has previously employed materials such as worms, flies, frogs, fleas, butterfly wings, snakes, bones, starfish, guava sweets and corn for the creation of complex sculptural forms; in doing so, the artist extracts these materials from their original context in an attempt to grant them new meaning and symbolism.
The works that constitute the Emu series are imbued with a strong symbolism. Emu, a large flightless bird similar to the ostrich, plays a prominent role in Australian culture; it is regarded as a national emblem and appears on the Australian coat of arms. Cardoso’s sculptural works made of brown to grey-brown emu feathers consequently address notions of cultural identity, camouflage and exoticism. In the geometric and rhythmical arrangement of her materials, Cardoso seems to appropriate certain elements pertaining to Minimalism; the artist introduces the concept of repetition with both organic and inorganic materials for the creation of harmonious and beautiful forms that nevertheless carry within a powerful system of symbols. In addition to being symbolically charged, the plumage compositions could be understood as the artist’s attempt to connect with her current environment through an investigation of its distinguishing cultural aspects.