Mozart Guerra

The Sculptural Fantasy of a Rope

“Every child is an artist; the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.”

– Pablo Picasso

ABOUT THE ARTIST

The Paris-based sculptor Mozart Guerra was born in 1962 in Recife, in the North-East part of Brazil. This architecture graduate, from the Federal University of Pernambuco in 1986, soon realized that the passion for theater will dictate his future creative path. Completely captivated by the imaginative power of theater, towards the end of 1980s Guerra started to create numeros sets for theater, carnival, television and cinema, simultaneously creating sculptures. In 1992 he moved to Paris, fully devoting himself to sculpture. His first creations, strongly inspired by the works of the Colombian artist Fernando Botero and Niki de Saint Phalle were flamboyant raisin sculptures of busty women and shimmering colors, burlesque characters immersed in extravagant productions and strange animals. It was thanks to the burlesque, theatrical aspect of these creations that Guerra gradually gained artistic and commercial recognition.

The beginning of the 2000s marks a change in Guerra’s artistic technique, with the introduction of the colored ropes that dress the sculptures made of polystyrene, resin, and foam, and the new line by line technique. The subjects became less burlesque and more realistic, driving inspiration from endangered human and animal species, female weaving artists, mythology and social particularities across cultures. Mozart Guerra exhibits and sells in galleries and contemporary art fairs in France, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Benelux, Luxembourg, Japan, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica and USA. His artwork is represented by the galleries in Paris, Saint Tropez, Luxembourg, Porto and Miami. His studio is located in a collective art space, a brownfield site called la Fabrique, located on the outskirts of Paris in Ivry-sur-Seine.

“Theater had completely taken a hold on me; apart from my passion for theater decor, it was also a foundation of my work as a sculptor.”

Generous and unconventional- this is how I would describe the contact with Mozart Guerra, who was kind enough to share his artistic story and the process of creating his sculptures. The conversation started with Brazil that he left behind in the beginning of the 1990s. “Politically and socio-economically it was a very complicated time, marked by a failed economy and a retrograde political system, leaving no possibility to make a living as a professional artist”, Guerra explains. It was out of curiosity and friendships that Guerra moved to Paris in 1992, without speaking the language at the time.

Guerra’s artistic path was never attached to institutions. As he explains: “I arrived in France in a good, prosperous time, quite different from the present one. The fine art industry was highly functional, it was easier to establish a contact with galleries because they were the ones seeking talent directly. Paris was a real source of inspiration where I learned a lot just by observing, I was a kind of a sponge. I remember one of the first exhibitions I saw in 1992 that left a huge impact on me-the voluptuous figures exhibited on the Champs-Élysées, by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero. In France I worked on some cabaret sets, in the Moulin Rouge style. Theater had completely taken a hold on me; apart from my passion for theater decor, it was also a foundation of my work as a sculptor.”

“My artistic language is empathic and easily understandable.”

One must truly appreciate life to cultivate the sensibility for the silenced, oppressed or endangered beings. With the “Woman in Kyoto”, Guerra shows exactly this sensibility, by pointing out the deterioration of the sanctity of the geisha culture, a vital part of Japanese cultural heritage. The patched mouth is a direct reference to the ambiguity of their status: though omnipresent in various aspects of society, their status has always remained secretive, marked with a code of silence.

Another work inspired by the East-Asian tradition are The Three Wise Primates, or the Three Monkeys, with zipped ears, eyes and nose. In the original interpretation, these monkeys are supposed to represent a way of not feeling evil. The symbolics can be easily revisited as a direct wake up call for more awareness, in a world where our consciousness is under threat. Guerra insists on the absolute realism of his human-scale sculptures. One of the dominant subjects in his work are robust animals of sculptural strength. The architectural eye is visible in the construction, balance, and sharp position. The sculptures are often placed on a plinth.

Technically speaking, the construction of a sculpture consists of several stages and different ways of working. Either the work begins with a sculpted model in clay, that is then cas in its mold. Adding a specific product to the mold allows the reproduction of the form, meaning that the base can be reworked over and over again with different types of ropes and accessories, creating each time a different story. Oftentimes Guerra starts to build his work in polystyrene, creating in that way unique pieces of art as there is just one base. This is the case of the majestic Bonsai, a piece which construction lasted a year!

Guerra works with polystyrene almost as someone who sculpts a slab of marble. The material requires a more direct work, from several different angles, a practice that he mastered while studying architecture. Pinning the cords to the base is only possible using pliable materials like polystyrene or sponge foam. The final result are pieces that seem heavy in volume but are actually lightweight, while the parallel lines convey the volume.

“The vibrant colored ropes are associated with my origins, the Brazilian popular culture in which I was immersed, the exuberant carnival, the toys I used to make from recycled materials as a child. I still keep something of that child inside me.”

Guerra uses the idea of threat as a common point to make a connection between two of his major subjects: the animal fauna and indigenous communities or cultures in danger of extinction. “My artistic language is empathic and easily understandable. The existential threat affects me enormously because I have a great lust for life”, he explains. Guerra introduces this idea of threat with the symbol of a target, in the form of different accessories, like arrows. On a broader level, a target also represents this controversal dichotomy common to humankind: the one of love and destruction. On the opposite side, the vibrant, intense colors serve not just to enhance the dramatic effect, but also to represent the joy of living. “The vibrant colored ropes are associated with my origins, the Brazilian popular culture in which I was immersed, the exuberant carnival, the toys I used to make from recycled materials as a child. I still keep something of that child inside me.”

Loyal to his cultural values of life optimism and cheerfulness, Mozart Guerra has one particular wish to accomplish with his art pieces: “I wish that my work could continue to convey the lust for life.”

“I wish that my work could continue to convey the lust for life.”

More about the artist:

official website: https://mozartguerra.com

Instagram: @mozartguerra

Mozart Guerra

The Sculptural Fantasy of a Rope

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Mozart Guerra

The Sculptural Fantasy of a Rope

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