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#ImmediateAttention@Galeria
Emma Thomas – Sao Paolo
January 14th - February 5th 2016
Galeria Emma Thomas, Rua Estados Unidos, 2205 São Paulo – SP – Brasil
HOME CONCEPT PRESS AND REVIEWS STREAMING GALLERY CONTACT

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PRESS IMAGES
#ImmediateAttention is an exhibition by artist Thierry Geoffroy/ COLONEL
curated by Tijana Miskovic.
The exhibition focuses on artist’s ability to be “thermometer” detecting,
measuring and giving the diagnosis of the dysfunctions in the society.
Artistic expressions in time can create vital debate, visibility and hopefully
an impact.
The collaboration with Galeria Emma Thomas is making it possible to put
light on some of the current issues that need immediate attention in Brazil.
This exhibition intends to be a warm up for a global art movement. It opens
up for further implantation and activity in Brazil as well as during CUB –
Copenhagen Ultracontemporary Biennale.
In connection with exhibition #ImmediateAttention curated by Tijana
Miskovic at Galeria Emma Thomas in São Paulo – Brazil from 11/1 – 27/1
2016, Thierry Geoffroy /COLONELpresents ultracontemporary artworks
created the same day as they were exhibited, and most of them
expressed about emergencies.
The daily changing exhibition is an art format, whose essence has
already been formulated in Thierry Geoffroy /COLONEL’s manifesto for
moving exhibitions published in 1989. Since then, the format has been
realized as numerous exhibitions and actions around the world as well as
a spatial construction EMERGENCY ROOM built in museums and art
institutions such as MOMA PS1.
The ultracontemporary way of working is a comment on contemporary
not being sufficiently in time. There are a couple of artworks illustrating
this critique. For example CONTEMPORARY, ART STILL LIKES TO
QUESTION THE CANVAS. It is a toilet chair with one missing wheel on a
white canvas. The canvas and the painting are used as symbols for

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contemporary art not reflecting about the now but continuing to question
the canvas, the pigment, and the frame.
TOO LATE, 14/1 2016, 90 x 70 cm, red paint on white canvas Private
collection, Brazil
ABROLHOS MARINE PARK/ (THE MUD IS COMING! RUN AWAY!) / DAVID BOWIE IS
DEAD, 11/1 2016, 60 x 40 cm, red marker on a painting

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CONTEMPORARY ART STILL LIKES TO QUESTION THE CANVAS 18/1 2016, 90 x 60 x
95 cm, handicap toilet chair with one missing wheel on a white canvas
Even though the production of artworks is being done fast, Thierry
Geoffroy /COLONEL’s work includes a great deal of observation and
investigation. He researches as much on the streets as on Internet. His
sources of information and inspiration can be anything from articles in
local newspapers over information found on social media to opinions he
extracts from local people or experts.
Thierry Geoffroy /COLONEL’s artwork production is like streaming
expressions taking shape in different forms and media. Some of the
artworks are produced from objects found, collected or purchased in São

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Paulo, while others are made with materials already established in his
repertoire, such as white cotton fabric, cartons, and tents.
APATIA E CONTAGIANTE, 14/1 2016, 2,2 kg, 2 x 1,40 m, red spray on tent
Thierry Geoffroy/ COLONEL has been using tents since 1991. Tents can
be both looked at as paintings and as sculptures. The artist uses the
sides of a tent as a canvas for painted statements. After, each tent
becomes a mobile sculptural object. Some of Thierry
Geoffroy/COLONEL’s previous tent artworks have been exhibited in The
Maldives Pavilion, Venice Biennale, IT; The ZkM Museum, Karlsruhe, DE;
Marta Herford - Museum für moderne Kunst, Herford, DE; Kunsthalle
Osnabrück, Osnabrück, DE. (among other places) The tents are also in
the collection of Museum of Contemporary Art, Danmark as well as
private collections in Paris, Copenhagen, and São Paulo.

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IN SAO PAULO, I TOOK A SHOWER OF 5 MINUTES THINKING ABOUT THE DEAD
VOLUME, 11/1 2016, 16 x 14 cm, black marker text and drawing on carton
Cartons are a diary-like artworks consisting of drawing, text and
occasionally glued paper cutouts. They play a vital role in Thierry
Geoffroy /COLONEL’s creative process because they capture the raw,
unpolished artistic thought. Depending on the moment, the state of mind
of the artist and the surrounding, the statements on the cartons can
range from direct and sharp to personal and doubtful, also including the
contradiction as part of authentic and honest communication.
WELCOME CHEAP WORKERS, 14/1 2016, 160 x 110 cm, red and green spray paint on white
cotton fabric
Similar to the cartons and the tents, the banner-like artworks with text on
pieces of fabric are expressing artist’s statements in the given
circumstances, conditions and situations of the moment. Often they are
exhibited on the spot at international events such as Manifesta,
Cartagena/Murcia, ES or Documenta, Kassel, DE.

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Some of the important topics being commented during the exhibition at
Galeria Emma Thomas in São Paulo were: Zika virus outbreak in Brazil,
anti-refugee movements and laws in Europe, demonstrations and police
violence in São Paulo, water problems in Brazil, chemical explosion in the
industrial port of Santos, Lava Jato operation in Brazil connected to
money laundering and corruption in the country, gentrification and real
estate speculations in the time of crises in Brazil, toxic mud from Brazilian
dam disaster, The World Economic Forum in in Davos and global climate
change problems.
A selection of artworks also includes poetic reflections on the artistic
process and subjects like the role of the artist in the society, the notion of
time, the routine versus the ritual and the syntheses.
CAN BEING IN THE NOW BECOME A ROUTINE, 26/1 2016, red marker on cotton fabric and
wood
This exhibition was realized in collaboration with Juliana Freire, Flaviana
Bernardo and Daniel Marchezini from Galeria Emma Thomas and
developed thanks to Décio Hernandez Di Giorgi.

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A book with images from the show can be downloaded HER free of
charge or ordered by sending an email to curator Tijana Miskovic.
During the exhibition period Thierry Geoffroy opened the exhibition
space for one day to invite artists from Sao Paulo to express about what
they find emergencies.
Following artists participated:
Jac Leirner, Carla Chaim, Artur Lescher, Daniel Lie, Bel
Falleiros, Flavia Mielnik, Amaury Santos, Laura Gorski, Ícaro Lira,
Renata Cruz, Bruno Galan, Alessandra Duarte, Peter de Brito, André
Gomes, Lucas Simões, Raquel Kogan and Lea van Steen
A video reportage made by ARTE 1 TV channel can be seen HERE.

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In addition to the exhibition in Sao Paulo, Thierry Geoffroy/ COLONEL
also produced new artworks in Rio de Janeiro.

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L'OEUVRE C'EST LA CAPACITE DE SYNTHESE, 2016, 2,2 kg, 2 x 1,40 m, red spray
on tent
L'OEUVRE C'EST LA CAPACITE DE SYNTHESE, 2016, 2,2 kg, 2 x 1,40 m, red spray
on tent
A selection of press appearance:

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The exhibition was supported by Danish Arts Council and organized by:
Thierry Geoffroy / COLONEL

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Born 1961
Thierry Geoffroy, also known as COLONEL, is a French artist, living in
Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a format artist developing art formats,
most known being Emergency Room, Biennalist and Critical Run.
Thierry Geoffroy / COLONEL has published 6 books and his artworks are
are included in international museum collections.
He is Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
SELECTED GROUP AND ONE-MAN SHOWS FROM 2007 - 2015P.S.1/
MOMA New York, USA; ZKM Museum Karlsruhe, DE; Sprengel Museum,
Hannover, DE; Moderna Museet, the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm,
SE; HEART- HerningMuseum of Contemporary Art Denmark, Herning,
DK; Plazzo Delle Arti Napoli, IT; The Museum of Contemporary Art,
Roskilde, DK; Galerie Asbaek Copenhagen, DK; The Maldives Pavilion,
Venice Biennale, Venice, IT; Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK, Manifesta
Biennal, Murcia, ES; National Museum Rejkavik, FI; Galerie Olaf Stüber,
Berlin, DE, IKM Museum, Oslo, NO; Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, NL;
Devron Arts, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, SCO; The Model, Sligo, IR;
Fotografisk Center, Copenhagen, DK; Cairo Biennale, Cairo, EG;
Blackwood Gallery Toronto, CAN; Galerie Ileana Tounta, Athens, GR;
Kunsthalle Osnabrück, Osnabrück, DE.
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