http://www.georthof.com
October 1 - December 31, 2009
Gê Orthof, "800ºC", 2009, mixed media instalation, 7,8 x 7,8 x 7,8 in
800ºC a new object by Brazilian artist Gê Orthof, is a small and fragile construction made of matchboxes and acetate prints of images of fire, such as firemen, burning buildings, books etc. The title 800ºC alludes to the temperature (1,472ºF) that matches rise to, when they burn. The work was made especially for Davis Museum and will be exposed for the first time at LACDA, "Los Angeles Center for Digital Arts".
Orthof has been working with installation and performance arts since the eighties, with a particular interest for the intimacy of small size and poetic objects. That is a deliberated tactic for fighting against the banality and fast speed of contemporary life and art fruition. With the diminutive scale, the artist hopes to set a slower and more accurate approach of the audience's observation, inviting the observer for getting closer in order to appreciate the works.
Gê Orthof: 1959, Petrópolis -- Rio de Janeiro. Lives and works in Brasília, Brazil.
Professor at the Visual Arts Department - Art Institute - Brasília Federal University, since 1993, Visual Arts Coordinator at Latin American Culture House - Brasília University, (1999 -- 2000). Visiting artist at School of Visual Arts, Penn State University (2002), Post-doctorate at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Tufts University (2001) Boston, Doctorate (Ed.D.) (1992), Ed. M (1985) and (M.A.) Visual Arts, T.C., Columbia University, Visiting artist at Aveiro University, Portugal (1990), New York, Fulbright Scholar at the School of Visual Arts, NYC (1983), and B. A. in Design at Rio de Janeiro State University (1981).
Founder editor of reVISta, the graduate program's art magazine and has contributed with several publications specialized in art in Brazil, curatorship, and participation in juries, such as: Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, Caixa Cultural Center, Itaú Cultural Center, The National Foundation for The Arts, Brasília University, Brasília Cultural Foundation and Central Bank Museum. Has illustrated more than twenty children's books for major publishing houses in Rio and São Paulo.
Since 1997 organizes Campus Muse, a student site-specific intervention group at the Brasília Federal University Campus.
