Cinthia Marcelle and Tiago Mata Machado: Divine Violence

Since 2008, artist Cinthia Marcelle and filmmaker Tiago Mata Machado have produced a suite of moving image works that reflect on notions of confrontation, order and chaos in contemporary society. 

Black Hole (2008) depicts two opposing air currents scattering a mass of white powder across a black ground. In the constant push and pull between forces, this video offers subtle commentary on the shifting dynamics between individuals and contesting positions. Exploring the poetics and politics of urban life in Brazil and other global locations, The Century (2011) and One Way Street (2013) are interrelated pieces that provide different viewpoints on a shared event—a street protest. These two works function as an anatomy of the event, deconstructing its actions and impact on civic space. Yet, there is no indication of the underlying cause of the unrest, highlighting the spontaneous and often unwieldy process that leads to a complete breakdown of social order. Community (and the other process) (2016) contends with the invisible bonds and rules that keep people and by extension our social milieu together. This two-channel piece—split across two separate spaces in the Logan Center Gallery—presents two versions of an orderly line on the precipice of rupture, one depicted through a group of individuals standing in wait, and the other through an animated line drawing. 

Bringing these works together for the first time in the United States, Cinthia Marcelle and Tiago Mata Machado: Divine Violence speculates on the potential for revolution in everyday life. In doing so, the exhibition attends to the artists’ reflections on violence (and by extension anarchy) as a means to undercut the forces of law, power, and capital.

Cinthia Marcelle and Tiago Mata Machado: Divine Violence is presented by Logan Center Exhibitions and curated by Yesomi Umolu, Exhibitions Curator. Support for this exhibition is provided by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Related programming

Opening reception and artist tour
September 8, 6pm

Please join us for an artist tour with Cinthia Marcelle followed by a reception to celebrate the opening of Cinthia Marcelle and Tiago Mata Machado: Divine Violence.

Thiago de Paula Souza
October 7, 2pm

Please join us and Brazilian curator Thiago de Paula Souza for a talk on the exhibition Divine Violence. de Paula Souza will examine the sociopolitical context of contemporary Brazilian society as shown through Marcelle and Mata Machado’s videos, tracing the ways these works offer a non-binary reading of recent events in the country.

This event is presented as part of the Logan Center’s 5 Year Anniversary Birthday Bash.

All events are free and open to the public.

About the artists
Cinthia Marcelle lives and works in São Paulo, and graduated in Fine Arts from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (1996–99). Marcelle is currently representing Brazil in the 57th Venice Biennale (2017) and recently participated in the 11th Sharjah Biennial (2015). Recent solo exhibition include MoMA PS1 (2016), NY; Secession, Vienna (2014); Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil [CCBBR], Rio de Janeiro (2013); Pinchuck Art centre, Kyiv, Ukraine (2012). Marcelle’s work has been part of significant events and group exhibitions including the Sharjah Biennial, UAE (2015); Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro (2013); the second New Museum Triennial, New York (2012); Tate Level 2 Gallery, London (2012); the Bienal de Lyon (2007); Panorama da Arte Brasileira, São Paulo (2007) and Madrid (2008); and the IX Bienal de la Habana (2006). Cinthia Marcelle has been awarded relevant International Prizes, the Future Generation Prize from the Victor Pinchuck Foundation (2010) and the TrAIN artist in residency award at Gasworks, London (2009).

Tiago Mata Machado is a Brazilian film critic, curator and filmmaker. Holding a Masters in Multimedia from the Institute of Arts of the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), he was a film critic for the newspapers O Tempo (1996–2000) and Folha de S. Paulo (2000–2006). As a curator, he organized the film programs Vanguards/Neovanguards and Subversives at the 11th and 12th Belo Horizonte International Short Film Festivals and Collective Films / 68 at Forumdoc.BH.2010. He directed the medium length film Curra Urbana (1998) and the feature films O Quadrado de Joana (2002) and The Residents, which premiered internationally at the 61st Berlin Film Festival – Berlinale (2011). 

Logan Center Exhibitions​
Logan Center Exhibitions presents international contemporary art programming at the Logan Center Gallery and throughout the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago. Reflecting the spirit of inquiry at the university, Logan Center Exhibitions focuses on open, collaborative, and process-based approaches to cultural production.