Rodrigo Cass
LOT 2
being true human, 2020
Concrete on linen
30.5 x 26.75 in.
Courtesy of Anthony Meier
Suggested retail value: $10,000
Starting bid: $7,500
About the Artwork
From 2000 to 2008, Rodrigo Cass was a monk in the Carmelite Religious Order of São Paulo, where he learned to paint Byzantine religious icon paintings with tempera paint. Drawing on influences from philosophy and art history, Cass utilizes painting, sculpture, and video to explore the concreteness of things—extracting and engaging the color, texture, weight, function, and movement (or lack thereof) of concrete to manifest the formal language of his expression. Cass considers concrete to be the synthesis of his artistic mindset: a spiritual element, living and breathing—concepts he quotes from a statement by Lina Bo Bardi, taken from a video interview in which she says: “I see concrete as a living creature, as a living being. It breathes.” For Cass, breathing is at the bottom of all experience. “All that lives, breathes. And breathing is the action of the spirit.” In being true human, Cass skillfully manipulates concrete into a paint-like substance that he brushes directly onto the canvas. His rhythmic lines can be likened to text on a page or a complex system of corridors, creating a metaphysical landscape to be explored. Among acts of repetition there are moments of expressive stillness, similar to intervals of silence in a musical composition or pauses in poetry; a holding of the breath. Cass’s use of materials transcends two-dimensional depictions; the beveled edges of the canvas and the work’s concrete lines bleed into the wall, unable to be contained. Cass is the recipient of numerous prizes and accolades, and has had solo exhibitions at Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco; Centro Cultural São Paulo, São Paulo; Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, Galpão, São Paulo; Galeria de Arte Copasa, Belo Horizonte; Galerie MDM, Paris, France; Meyer Riegger, Karlsruhe, Germany; and MALG—Museu de Arte Leopoldo Gotuzzo, Pelotas, among others. Selected group exhibitions include Cities in Dust, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel | Carpintaria, São Paulo, Brazil; Building Material: Process and Form in Brazilian Art, Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles; The Way Objects Go, Belgrade Cultural Center, Belgrade, Serbia; and Video Art in Latin America: Selections from Brazil, The Rubell Family Collection/Contemporary Arts Foundation, Miami.
HOW TO BID:
Bidding is available from May 19-June 6.
1) Text 'READY TO BID' or call 628-279-6010.
OR
2) Visit the Headlands Auction Exhibition to see the artwork and bid via pencil & paper.