ADRIANA VAREJÃO | Língua com padrão de flor

Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2004

Centro Cultural São Paulo, O contemporâneo na produção artística de Brasil e Portugal, 1998
Tokyo, The National Museum of Modern Art; Kyoto, The National Museum of Modern Art, Brazil: Body Nostalgia, 2004, n.p., illustrated 

Isabel Diegues, Ed., Adriana Varejão - entre carnes e mares, Rio de Janeiro 2009, pp. 198 and 200, illustrated in color 
Adriano Pedrosa, Ed., Adriana Varejão: Histórias às margens, São Paulo 2013, p. 147, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. The textural irregularities and pigment separation to the surface are inherent and consistent with the artist's choice of medium and working method. Under close inspection, there is evidence of light surface soiling and some dust accumulation. Only visible under very close inspection, there are a few, scattered, very minor losses to the pigment particularly in the center polyurethane area. Unframed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Adriana Varejão’s Língua com padrão de flor, from the series “Tongues and Incisions,” is a masterful synthesis of corporeal and architectonic forms, as well as a highly nuanced exploration of representational strategies. Through the juxtaposition of elements that reference these disparate categories, Varejão’s work examines the relationship between order and violence, bringing together the colonial history of her native Brazil with formal investigations into the tension between mimetic representation and abstraction.  Língua com padrão de flor features a crimson passage along its center, delineated with thick impasto, which spills beyond the edge of the canvas onto the floor below. All around the red passage is a tile backing painted on canvas by Varejão with a faithful verisimilitude, rendered to look exactly like the ceramic Portuguese tiles which typically cover the exteriors of religious and government buildings in Brazil. Though visually distinct, the projecting tongue and the tile base are skillfully resolved into a single, unified, composition by the artist. Each part acts as a testament to the artist’s artistic labor and skill: the tiles function as evidence of Varejão’s draftsmanship, keen observational eye and ability to inspire aesthetic pleasure. The tongue, dramatically peeling off the surface of the canvas like skin, is an unbound exploration in paint and gesture, elevating the medium through its imaginative and subversive application.

The tiles, painstakingly rendered by the artist, contrast with the “tongue” projecting from the work’s center, disrupting that pristine surface and quaint sense of history. In bringing these elements together, Varejão questions our sanitized views of the past, introducing visceral and abject associations with the body, as well as notions of violence done to bodies, in order to highlight what lurks just beyond the surface.