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LAMBE LAMBE

Fernando de la Rocque

28 Julio de 2011 - 09 Octubre de 2011

Fernando de la Rocque approaches the urban space with hedonistic sense and a seductive optic. In 2007, as part of his intervention at the facade of the renowned Brazilian art-space, A Gentil Carioca, de la Rocque took his erotic illustrations to the streets to create a parallelism, between abstraction and sexual narratives. On the streets of Rio de Janeiro, at a distance, the public observed a kaleidoscopic pattern while, at a closer view, this optical illusion transformed into the repetitive image of an orgy.

Lambe-Lambe (Lick-Lick) 2011 is the second intervention part of the curatorial project A Wall with Kindness –collaboration between La Sala de Arte Publico Siqueiros (SAPS) and A Gentil Carioca, Brazil. On this occasion, de la Rocque appropriates the iconography of an archaeological treasure in India, the Khajuraho temple, to make his own version of the original images into wallpaper. It covers the entire facade. As another negotiation between architecture and the social sphere, the artist incorporated to his discourse the possible deterioration of the piece. Since Lambe-Lambe refers to the act of licking, the fusion of optical illusion with a playful gesture arouses the collective order.

A Wall with Kindness is a collaborative effort towards a progressive theory of art offered by institutions, such as A Gentil Carioca. For its founding members, Marcio Botner, Laura Lima and Ernesto Neto, the synthesis of the utilization of a facade as a space for social education and the commercialization of artistic products challenges a traditional idea of spaces dedicated to Contemporary Art. Therefore, they have managed to turn A Gentil Carioca into a prominent point of reference for other institutions in America by interlacing notions from the museum, gallery and the academia.