BRAZILIAN Lygia Clark Caranguejo (from the Bichos series) 1984 aluminum Dimensions variable. Flat: 6 x 11 1/8 in. (15.2 x 28.3 cm) Signed "Lygia Clark" and numbered two of 1,000 on a certificate of authenticity accompanying the work. This work is also accompanied by an original box and pamphlet on the Caranguejo edition. This work is number two from an edition of 1,000 and it is recorded in the Lygia Clark Archive.
Provenance Private Collection Catalogue Essay "When we play with Bichos, we un-learn the traditional dialogue of artist/art and spectator, in which the spectator is synonymous with receptor. When the spectator or rather initiator plays with Bichos, he plays with life, he identifies himself with it, feeling it in its totality, participating in a unique and total moment, he exists. The gesture is not the gesture of the artist when he is creating, but it is the very dialogue of the work with the spectator." (Lygia Clark quoted in exhibition catalogue: Lygia Clark 1998, p. 122) Widely regarded as one of the luminaries of Brazilian modern art, Lygia Clark was one of the founders of the Neo-Concretist group, an avant-garde movement that also included Hélio Oiticica Lygia Pape and Ivan Serpa among its most active members. Strongly influenced by Marcel Duchamp and Dada, the Neo-Concretists defined art as a profoundly subjective and intuitive experience. They firmly adhered to the belief that an artwork should be continuously re-invented by its viewer. Having studied in Paris with Fernand Léger and Arpad Szenes, Clark began her artistic career as a geometric abstract painter, initially focusing on monochromatic paintings. In the 1950s, she became interested in shattering the illusionist principles of traditional painting and challenging the concept of the picture as a realistic window into the world. Along with her Neo-Concretist counterparts, she sought to liberate the plastic arts from the confines of representation and turn art into a collaborative, expressive and powerfully instinctive experience. Practicing the Neo-Concrete philosophy of art, Lygia Clark thought of spectators as participants whose mental and physical engagement would propel the object and viewer to become a single creative entity. Begun in 1959, Clark's Bichos synthesize the formal innovations of the Neo-Concretists and propose their radical vision for a new social role of art. By encouraging human interaction with these kinetic and geometric forms, art could become a multi-sensory experience, capable of influencing human life beyond the confines of the gallery space. To this end, Clark bravely harnessed the most elementary tools of visual language—form, color, line, and plane—and created malleable, three-dimensional objects that could be physically transformed with each viewer’s participation. She turned light and form into bodies that re-materialized at every turn. The Bichos are the best examples of her philosophy and artistic practice. The works are foldable, kinetic sculptures made of hinged aluminum sheets, and they embody Clark’s efforts to expand the limits of traditional art and foster greater artistic engagement. The reflective surfaces charge the surrounding space, and the work is endlessly revolutionized as participants shift the angles of the sheets. Clark titled this overarching series Bichos—which means “bugs” or “creatures”—because of the works’ vitally organic nature. The hinges that connect each aluminum plane in the sculptures are reminiscent of spinal columns, and they allow for movement and constant change. In its flattened state, the Bicho may look as if it could hang flat on a wall, but Clark intended these objects to be opened, folded, and reconfigured by her audience into a range of different shapes and dimensions. Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way to display a Bicho. Unlike traditional painting and sculpture, there is no determined front or back, inside or outside. In 1984, the Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange asked Clark to create a special edition of Bichos, in order to celebrate their major influence in Brazilian art and culture. She titled these new works Caranguejos (Portuguese for 'Crabs') to highlight their lively and dynamic nature. Among the very first Caranguejos made for this edition, the present lot appears to be crawling softly as the viewer shifts its shapes. It embodies Clark’s encouragement to become one with her c
BRAZILIAN Lygia Clark Caranguejo (from the Bichos series) 1984 aluminum Dimensions variable. Flat: 6 x 11 1/8 in. (15.2 x 28.3 cm) Signed "Lygia Clark" and numbered two of 1,000 on a certificate of authenticity accompanying the work. This work is also accompanied by an original box and pamphlet on the Caranguejo edition. This work is number two from an edition of 1,000 and it is recorded in the Lygia Clark Archive.
Provenance Private Collection Catalogue Essay "When we play with Bichos, we un-learn the traditional dialogue of artist/art and spectator, in which the spectator is synonymous with receptor. When the spectator or rather initiator plays with Bichos, he plays with life, he identifies himself with it, feeling it in its totality, participating in a unique and total moment, he exists. The gesture is not the gesture of the artist when he is creating, but it is the very dialogue of the work with the spectator." (Lygia Clark quoted in exhibition catalogue: Lygia Clark 1998, p. 122) Widely regarded as one of the luminaries of Brazilian modern art, Lygia Clark was one of the founders of the Neo-Concretist group, an avant-garde movement that also included Hélio Oiticica Lygia Pape and Ivan Serpa among its most active members. Strongly influenced by Marcel Duchamp and Dada, the Neo-Concretists defined art as a profoundly subjective and intuitive experience. They firmly adhered to the belief that an artwork should be continuously re-invented by its viewer. Having studied in Paris with Fernand Léger and Arpad Szenes, Clark began her artistic career as a geometric abstract painter, initially focusing on monochromatic paintings. In the 1950s, she became interested in shattering the illusionist principles of traditional painting and challenging the concept of the picture as a realistic window into the world. Along with her Neo-Concretist counterparts, she sought to liberate the plastic arts from the confines of representation and turn art into a collaborative, expressive and powerfully instinctive experience. Practicing the Neo-Concrete philosophy of art, Lygia Clark thought of spectators as participants whose mental and physical engagement would propel the object and viewer to become a single creative entity. Begun in 1959, Clark's Bichos synthesize the formal innovations of the Neo-Concretists and propose their radical vision for a new social role of art. By encouraging human interaction with these kinetic and geometric forms, art could become a multi-sensory experience, capable of influencing human life beyond the confines of the gallery space. To this end, Clark bravely harnessed the most elementary tools of visual language—form, color, line, and plane—and created malleable, three-dimensional objects that could be physically transformed with each viewer’s participation. She turned light and form into bodies that re-materialized at every turn. The Bichos are the best examples of her philosophy and artistic practice. The works are foldable, kinetic sculptures made of hinged aluminum sheets, and they embody Clark’s efforts to expand the limits of traditional art and foster greater artistic engagement. The reflective surfaces charge the surrounding space, and the work is endlessly revolutionized as participants shift the angles of the sheets. Clark titled this overarching series Bichos—which means “bugs” or “creatures”—because of the works’ vitally organic nature. The hinges that connect each aluminum plane in the sculptures are reminiscent of spinal columns, and they allow for movement and constant change. In its flattened state, the Bicho may look as if it could hang flat on a wall, but Clark intended these objects to be opened, folded, and reconfigured by her audience into a range of different shapes and dimensions. Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way to display a Bicho. Unlike traditional painting and sculpture, there is no determined front or back, inside or outside. In 1984, the Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange asked Clark to create a special edition of Bichos, in order to celebrate their major influence in Brazilian art and culture. She titled these new works Caranguejos (Portuguese for 'Crabs') to highlight their lively and dynamic nature. Among the very first Caranguejos made for this edition, the present lot appears to be crawling softly as the viewer shifts its shapes. It embodies Clark’s encouragement to become one with her c
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